


Honesty is Your Only Policy

by faecakes



Category: Servamp (Anime & Manga)
Genre: -shrugs-, I honestly have no idea what I'm doing, M/M, any pairs added will be included later I guess?, merrr?, other pairs may develop as this goes on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-03
Updated: 2016-12-21
Packaged: 2018-08-12 20:50:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 38,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7948567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faecakes/pseuds/faecakes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being Ex-Lovers can be complicated, especially when your ex happens to be Tsurugi.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 

They made it a point not to seem distracted by each other. Mikuni always checked ahead of time to make certain Tsurugi was out before arriving at C3. It’s not that he didn’t want to see Tsurugi—perhaps that was the reason in the beginning, but it wasn’t always like this. In the days of their youth the two had shared many highs and lows together. As they’d grown closer they’d spent nights tussling around in the sheets, pulling hair and whispering sweet nothings against one another’s sweat clad skin. In time, what had started as a few marks and bites became more noticeable. Their attendance at meetings and assignments became scattered. This had prompted a set of watchful eyes neither had ever intended for to become involved with the pair. For the sake of what was best; they parted ways. At least… that’s what Tsurugi had reasoned to himself when he would lay alone at night now.

This room of solitude had never seemed so desolate as it did now. In the past, it wouldn’t have bothered him in the slightest being alone. It was often that Tsurugi preferred it over the company of others—but he found himself now missing the quiet nights spent together reading books in the lounge. He missed the warm food prepared by his bed mate. He missed everything about their life together—so much so, that he’d even started dressing for bed properly. In the past this had been a missing habit that once annoyed his roommate. Of course, Tsurugi still had yet to own a pair of a pyjamas, but he substituted it with his ex-partner’s old uniform. The scent of the oils and fragrances Mikuni used on himself had long since dissipated, but the memories were still there; subtly woven in between the fibres of the soft cotton.

It was late at night… somewhere between the hours of 1 and 3. Tsurugi lay awake in his bed like always, waiting for sleep to catch him by surprise, but it never came. Calloused fingertips brushed along the cuffs of Mikuni’s jacket, trying to recreate some sense of comfort of his ex-lover’s embrace but it simply wasn’t there. How many weeks had it been since they had parted? Or was it months? Years maybe? …How old was Tsurugi again?

“…Kamiya Tsurugi… age 26,” he repeated to himself quietly, “Kamiya Tsurugi… age 26… age 23… age 19… 3 years… 3 years you’ve been gone.”

3 years spent together and 3 years they’d spent apart. Had it really been so long now? Tsurugi turned his face into his pillow, nuzzling against it to find some sort of relief from all of his thoughts. His legs curled closer to his body in an effort to protect himself—but from what exactly? How he really felt? It wasn’t often nights like this occurred, but then again… it wasn’t often he saw Mikuni before his eyes again either. He was so big now. He’d grown up from the sullen youth Tsurugi had originally been charged with protecting. Mikuni had become a great actor as well. His hatred seemed so genuine, and his eyes so cold Tsurugi’s heart skipped a beat upon their meeting in the hall.

…What if it was genuine though?

When they’d parted ways they had parted on rather unpleasant terms. Tsurugi could never reveal his reasons for why he acted the way he did and he knew it frustrated Mikuni—but really it was for his own good. Even in the halls, if Tsurugi had spoken and acted as honestly as his heart felt he no doubt would’ve jeopardized everything important to him. He knew without even hearing him, Touma was always watching him. Always… always watching—and he’d forgotten that before. Tsurugi had even thought once that maybe… maybe he could try and leave C3—just for one night and see Mikuni again, but a quick glance through the halls would’ve proved that impossible. Cameras were always present in C3—even if you thought they weren’t. The surveillance was constant; its only exception being the residents’ individual quarters. That was perhaps the only reason why Tsurugi and Mikuni hadn’t gotten into trouble sooner.

Did Mikuni understand all of this when he’d left? Did he understand it now?

Although there were many unspoken words that passed between them, in time Mikuni had come to know just what kind of a life Tsurugi lead. It was a life so ghastly that even mentioning it was uncalled for. What if… what if Mikuni really did hate that part of Tsurugi?

The Ace’s thoughts were beginning to run away with him—something they hadn’t done in years. He sat up in his bed and looked at the uniform around his scarred frame.

What should he do…?

He looked at the clock again: 3:15…

…It was a risk—but surely even Touma had to sleep some time… right?

 

* * *

 

Somewhere in the distance Mikuni could hear a light buzzing sound. Tired eyes pinched together as brows furrowed. Was it a bee? A truck outside revving its engine for the morning commute? Or was it his phone? It then fell silent. Hmm… well whatever it was Mikuni attempted to pay it no mind further and return to sleep.

The buzzing began again.

Nope—definitely his phone.

The blonde rose his head up from his pillow, Jeje coiled up in snake form beside him. Mikuni reached his arm over to see his phone lighting up the room and took hold of it. Whoever was calling before the sun was up better have a damn good reason. Tired brown eyes blurred and tried to focus against the blinding LED screen to make out the kanji of who was calling.

Of all the fucking people in the world… it had to be _him_.

“ _What_ ,” he barked while answering the phone. Mikuni could’ve let it go to voicemail and had honestly tried it in the past, but Tsurugi simply kept calling until Mikuni answered.

“Kuni-chan! Ah—did I wake you?” came the reply on the phone.

“It’s 3 in the morning, what do you think?” Mikuni growled in response. Already, he could feel a headache forming in-between his eyes and unconsciously rubbed at the bridge of his nose.

Oh… that’s right, most people didn’t have Tsurugi’s sleeping habits. The dark haired male felt a small sting of sheepishness and rubbed at the back of his head apologetically—even if Mikuni couldn’t see it.

“Ah—right, sorry, sorry. Uh… what’re you up to?”

“…” Mikuni stared forward with an incredulous look. He couldn’t tell if his brain was angry or surprised by the sheer stupidity of the question and responded likewise, “ _SLEEPING_.”

“Oh right. Um…”

“What do you want Tsurugi?” Mikuni had no patience for whatever it was the other was up to.

Tsurugi on the other end for once felt a bit tongue-tied and backed into a corner by Mikuni’s sharp responses. This was a remarkably rare occurrence, as nothing ever seemed to faze the C3 hound. Tsurugi was always the one to float along with anything—but it was largely in part because he didn’t care. Tsurugi had stopped caring about whatever happened to him and his body long, _long_ ago. The fact he found himself at a loss might have shown that there was in fact something he did care about. That rare silence being cast was enough to catch Mikuni’s attention. He raised himself up on his bed a bit more, knowing Tsurugi hadn’t hung up, but something was causing him to hesitate.

Mikuni waited for Tsurugi to try and speak honestly, knowing it was only a matter of time now.

“…I want to see you.”

Well… he’d tried to hope for something sane. Alas, “…Are you serious? It’s 3 in th—“

“— **PLEASE!** ”

Tsurugi shouted out desperately, causing Mikuni to stop in his argument. Tsurugi wasn’t exactly foreign to begging and pleading over trivial matters, so it was difficult to tell just how serious he was being.

“Please… please Kuni-chan,” Tsurugi continued. In his own room back at C3 he sat on his bed, curled over himself as he clutched to the phone desperately. His eyes were squeezed shut, not wanting to picture the looks Mikuni was giving him on the other end—knowing that they were real without Touma watching, “It’s been 3 years… please. I’ll do anything. I just… just one night. Please… when he can’t see us.”

Mikuni exhaled heavily, sitting up fully now. Jeje had been awake for some time, having woken up shortly after Mikuni’s phone vibrated the first time. He sat up with his head peering to follow his Eve as Mikuni arose. Vaguely, he could make out what was being said, but he took little personal interest in the matter. He knew well how both parties felt about each other; having acted as the mediator on several occasions, but this was their issue to solve between each other. Jeje had never been one for such social constructs. As long as his Eve remained contented to use him and offer him blood he cared about little else in the world.

“You still won’t leave him,” Mikuni spoke coldly.

Ah… so Mikuni’s actions earlier that day had been genuine, “I can’t.”

“I’m not going over there at 3 in the morning to entertain a piece of broken shit that can’t think for itself.”

Tsurugi swallowed thickly, feeling his hands start to tremble. So this was what Mikuni really thought and felt when he’d left C3 that day. Guess he wasn’t just a good actor, or maybe Tsurugi was the actor in the end. Mikuni believed wholeheartedly that Tsurugi couldn’t be fixed… he was probably right. After all, Mikuni had come so close to killing him that day in the hall. Mahiru had been terrified as well as Shuuhei, but both ex-partners knew it wasn’t just a vicious attack. It was the only way for Tsurugi to be freed. Touma would never let him out of his sights otherwise and Mikuni would’ve become just as ensnared had they not separated—no; had Tsurugi not made the appropriate moves to force the separation. It was a blessing and Mikuni was paying him back for it in the only way it could be done without suspicion.

However, Tsurugi wanted to prove Mikuni wrong now. This wasn’t how he wanted things to continue nor end. He couldn’t do this again for 3 years… or longer. Not even a day longer could he go on knowing that the words Mikuni growled at him were the exact same from when Touma was watching to when he wasn’t. Tsurugi couldn’t take that hatred from the someone that had shown him kindness—even if it was in Mikuni’s own way. It was almost equivalent to imagining Yumikage or Junichirou truly hating him; but knowing it was Mikuni made it far worse.

“…I’ll come there.”

Mikuni’s eyebrows raised in surprise, if only for a moment.

“Tell me where you are… and I’ll sneak out. …Even if you lie it’s ok. I’ll still come. I want to see Kuni-chan again.”

Now it was Mikuni’s turn to fall silent. Hell… this really wasn’t what he expected at 3 in the morning, but he should’ve known better after a meeting like that there was going to be some troubled waters. He thought for a moment, letting the phone fall to his chest. Subconsciously, the Alicein tapped the edge of the phone against himself as he thought it over. Did he really want to see Tsurugi again? Mikuni hadn’t realized how long he was taking to decide before Tsurugi’s voice broke off his train of thought; and with something that to this day still made him desire to cave to the other’s needs.

“…Mikuni?”

_Fuck._

Mikuni lifted the phone back up to his ear, biting back his inner desire to say _‘no’_ and just be done with all of this. This was too complicated of a situation to be brought up at such an ungodly hour. To be fair however, Tsurugi had always had shit timing with things like this. So it wasn’t as if this was entirely out of the blue.

“Alright, _fine_. But I’m not giving you my location. I’ll meet you halfway at the train station. Take the second stop, you got it?”

Tsurugi felt a warmth rush through him. Even if Mikuni sounded unhappy, it was more than enough for Tsurugi to ride on high with. Maybe not all of what Mikuni said he’d meant, and maybe he wasn’t completely broken as they both thought. The Ace quickly rushed to get ready, not bothering to take off Mikuni’s old uniform. If he was lucky he could use it as a disguise and appear like another member of the organization.

“I’ll leave right now!” Tsurugi replied before then hanging up. He could feel his heart about to leap from his chest. Finally, after 3 years he’d be able to talk to Mikuni again—be able to see him again without piercing eyes looming over them.

Mikuni hung up the phone as well on his end and got out of bed to get dressed. He slipped on a pair of slacks first, and then a simple shirt before throwing on a jacket. Jeje rose from the bed, expecting his master to call him, but instead was met with the exact opposite.

“Stay here. The train station’s close enough so I won’t be outside of the distance limit,” Mikuni then grabbed his signature hat, and headed out.

 

* * *

 

The whole time Tsurugi walked through the halls of C3 he kept the hood up on Mikuni’s old uniform to hide his face. The straps on his hands were tucked into the sleeves of the jacket so there was not a tattletale sign of who it was on camera. He should’ve done this sooner instead of waiting so long, but the fear of Touma catching him made him terrified even now as he crept through the halls. Tsurugi was cautious, checking each hallway ahead of him to make sure it was clear before going down it. He made his way to the elevator, pressing the button for the bottom floor. Thankfully, it was the only floor level that didn’t require an ID card. Tsurugi reached a hand up to pull the hood more securely over his face to shadow it, knowing those cameras would be watching. Touma undoubtedly controlled his life in every way… but Tsurugi was getting tired of it and would take a chance to rebel if just for one final taste of a freedom he’d never get. He didn’t care what Touma would do to his body in response anymore—he knew Touma would not kill him as long as he was needed. He would be damned though… if he would be forced to die before saying what he really felt to the one he loved. He didn’t have much longer most likely, and time was ticking away faster and faster each time he used his magic.

When the elevator hit the ground floor, Tsurugi got out almost immediately. Outside of C3 Touma could not watch him. He wouldn’t know who Tsurugi was seeing and thus could not hurt them—he hoped. Touma was incredibly smart, but it was a risk Tsurugi had to take.

He marched along the streets at night, keeping his identity concealed all the way to the train station. Tsurugi may or may not have gone through a series of pleads and bribes in order to wiggle his way into getting a ticket he didn’t have to pay for, but it worked eventually. Soon enough he was sitting on the train, watching the lights of the city pass him by as he made his way to the undisclosed meeting point. He listened for the announcer to list the second stop and pulled the cable for the train.

With the train at a standstill he got off. Tsurugi looked around feverishly for the one he was supposed to meet here. There was hardly a crowd given the hour, so if Mikuni was here surely Tsurugi would be able to spot him. Alas… there was no figure around that resembled him. Had Tsurugi actually been lied to? Did Mikuni really not want to see him?

A growing sense of apprehension began to build inside of him. It was bad enough Tsurugi was disobeying the one who controlled everything about him. Even as Tsurugi had travelled further and further from his room in C3 to meet Mikuni he was quite scared to do it. C3 was all he ever knew, and while he went out on missions often enough he’d never _left_ when not assigned to do so.

Tsurugi walked along the platforms in the station, hoping that maybe behind a pillar or a wall he’d see Mikuni standing and waiting for him. He checked from one end to the other, but there was no sign of his former partner. Tsurugi could begin to feel his chest tighten. His heart began to race with a surge of adrenaline. What if Mikuni never appeared? What would happen when Tsurugi went back to C3 and would undoubtedly have to use his ID card to get back to his room? Touma would no doubt see it in the records and then what? Then what—?!

“—Are you… wearing my old jacket?”

Tsurugi spun around at the voice, seeing Mikuni standing at the landing of the stairs to the station. An odd look of disgust and concern for Tsurugi’s attire was etched into his face, but Tsurugi didn’t care at the moment. Being too overwhelmed by fear and panic the 26-year-old crouched down onto his haunches with a bursting sob into his hands.

Mikuni, of course, being in public… panicked, “You idiot! Don’t make a scene!”

Tsurugi tried his best to take Mikuni’s words in and stifle his outpour of emotion. Bared palms rubbed at his eyes to stop the flowing tears as Mikuni walked up the stairs to retrieve the emotional heap.

“Jeez, people are going to think I gave you a hard time or something when I only just got here,” he muttered between them.

Tsurugi rose up to meet Mikuni, muttering a small string of apologies for… well, a lot of things really. There were too many to count on hand so he figured he might as well just keep going until Mikuni told him to shut up—which he did. At that point Tsurugi offered up his usual smile, which made Mikuni roll his eyes. In a gesture of kindness though Mikuni subtly offered his hand for Tsurugi to take hold of at his side and the elder obliged. The two hand in hand then began walking down the stairs to Mikuni’s place while Tsurugi wiped away his remaining tears and a few last sniffles.

Mikuni hadn’t lied.

And he wasn’t forgotten.

“For waking me up at 3 in the morning for this crap you better as hell make it up to me,” Mikuni commented offhand as they walked along the streets.

Tsurugi chuckled, finding Mikuni’s grouchy mood still charming after all these years, “I can try cooking for you again.”

“And burn down my apartment? Try again.”

“I could… do your laundry?”

“Are you going to steal more of my clothes when you do that?”

“Maybe~”

“Try again.”

Tsurugi laughed, now swinging their hands together as they walked along. He didn’t care how far Mikuni’s apartment was at the moment, he was just happy to be with him again and know that with each passing moment he was indeed not forgotten. His fears slowly ebbed away with the passing minutes and he found him relaxing his guard more and more the further away they travelled.

“…I missed you,” he muttered under his breath. Tsurugi squeezed Mikuni’s hand a little tighter, staring down at their feet walking in stride together.

Mikuni looked down at Tsurugi, not saying anything for the moment. The look on Tsurugi’s face was unmistakable though. Yellow eyes that were normally so clouded by intense emotions and confusion sparkled in the low light of the street lamps. A small but warm and genuine grin was painted on his face, and his whole posture seemed to relax. The barriers Tsurugi forced himself to be surrounded by were down, and he was showing himself honestly for once.

Mikuni couldn’t bring himself to say the same words back though, so he simply returned the squeeze of the hand, knowing that would be enough. That was in all honesty the truest way he could talk back right now. As always… his own mind became corrupted and clouded whenever he was around the other.

 

* * *

 

Reaching the apartment, Mikuni took out his keys and unlocked the door to the complex. He lived on the third floor. It was a small apartment since Mikuni didn’t need much and was often out anyways. It had a small window looking out on the city and a sill just large enough to rest a few small plants on. It even came with a clothing line to dry laundry on. There was a kitchen and a living space, which had been converted into the bedroom for the night. All in all, it was a pretty simple layout, but you wouldn’t have guessed it judging by Tsurugi’s reaction.

“Kuni-chan! Your apartment is so cute~!” he exclaimed, eagerly stepping in to look at everything.

Jeje, who had fallen back asleep while Mikuni was out had been woken by the door being unlocked upon the pair’s return. It was a good thing too as Tsurugi was quite the ball of energy—as always.

“Look at all the books you have now!” Tsurugi looked at the amassed shelves of books in the room. There were so many now. At least 3 times the amount he’d had when they pair had lived together in C3, “Do you still read as much as you used to?”

“Yes, I do. Can you keep it down?” While Tsurugi was allowed to be as loud as he wanted at C3, an apartment complex was different. It didn’t take much for other neighbours to hear someone being loud—or even a television set if the volume was high enough, “Sane people are still trying to sleep. Myself included.”

Mikuni hung up his jacket and removed his hat to get ready for bed again. Tsurugi looked over to Mikuni, noting the other’s exhaust and eagerness to return to bed. The only problem was… Tsurugi didn’t want to go to bed. Going to bed meant that the night would turn to morning, and in the morning he’d have to return to C3.

“I don’t want to go to bed,” he replied as Mikuni walked into the transformed bedroom, “I want to stay up and talk with you.”

“It’s nearly 4. I’m not having a conversation with you at 4 in the morning. We can talk later in the morning alright?” Mikuni walked back over to his bed with a yawn, slipping underneath the comforter. He left enough room for Tsurugi to roll in if he desired. However, given past experiences and the events of tonight he doubted the other would really act on it, “I’ll even make pancakes, just go to sleep Tsurugi.”

With that, Mikuni shut off the lights to the room leaving Tsurugi to decide his own fate.

Tsurugi stared down at the floor, sitting down on his knees. His hands rested on them in balled up fists, debating if he should be honest or not.

“…I won’t be here then.”

Fucking hell… was Mikuni ever going to get any sleep tonight? The blonde raised himself up from bed again and flicked on the light, staring angrily at Tsurugi, “ _What?_ ”

Tsurugi flicked up yellow eyes to meet Mikuni’s expression. It was worse seeing those angry emotions in person than hearing them on the phone. The C3 hound wanted to look away but he steadied his nerve. Mikuni would only become angrier if he hid his face anyways.

“I have to be back at C3 before Touma-san wakes or I’ll be in trouble.”

Mikuni about wanted to kill Tsurugi in that moment, “You made this huge deal about coming all the way here and leaving that bastard for one night and you can’t even do _that?_ Why the hell did you even bother to come here in the first place then?!”

“I wanted to see you!” Tsurugi pleaded again.

“But only when it’s convenient for you and that piece of shit that owns you?”

“It’s not like that!”

“To hell it’s not!! You do anything that bastard tells you to do like a goddamn slave! Worse than that even. You’re completely useless and broken. You’ll never fucking change—!“

At that moment there was a loud banging at the door to Mikuni’s apartment. Fuck... they’d been too loud. Mikuni got up from his bed to answer the door and apologized profusely to his neighbours he’d awakened. Tsurugi kept his head hung in shame, wondering now if Mikuni was going to kick him out. It certainly was sounding like he was going to.

With a few last apologies, and bows Mikuni shut the door and locked it for the night walking back over to his bed. This charade Tsurugi was pulling had gone on long enough for tonight and Mikuni didn’t want to hear a word further. Holding his hand up to stop Tsurugi from saying anything or muttering a string of apologies, Mikuni simply snapped his fingers and pointed to the bed.

“Get in and shut up. I don’t want another word out of you tonight.”

Tsurugi looked up with confusion at Mikuni, but the stern expression on the other’s face left no room for argument. Thankfully, Tsurugi was rather good with orders and did as he was told. He got up from the floor and slipped into Mikuni’s bed, taking the edge furthest away from the door as well as the bed to leave Mikuni with considerable space. Mikuni himself let out a disgruntled exhale and shut off the lights for the final time that night and crawled into bed after Tsurugi. He knew the other still wanted to talk but he was in absolutely no mood for it right now and it was too ungodly an hour to do so anyways.

“Now go to sleep. We’ll talk when I wake up,” Mikuni grumbled with his back turned to Tsurugi.

Jeje had since slithered off somewhere quiet and Mikuni didn’t blame him in the slightest for it. If anything he envied his Servamp… _ironically_.

It was probably several hours before either of the pair fell to sleep, which was to be expected after such a series of events. Eventually though, the beckoning hand of sleep had them both succumb to its temptations and the rest of the night passed without interruption.

 

* * *

 

By the time Tsurugi woke up it was mid-morning. The light being cast in from the window to the apartment roused him enough to pull him from his sleep. Tsurugi shifted his legs and went to raise his hands to rub the sleep from his eyes only to find… he couldn’t. Blinking awake, Tsurugi opened yellow orbs against the light and tugged his arms up again. He wasn’t able to get very far in this and found himself not being able to lift his arms more than a few centimetres on either side. Tsurugi turned his head to see what was going on and came faced with the fact that at some point in the night his wrists that were bound with his signature black straps had been sealed to the floor with magic.

“Good morning,” Mikuni spoke casually from Tsurugi’s other side.

The 26-year-old spun his head the other way to see Mikuni sitting at the table in his kitchen with a cup of coffee in hand, Jeje curled around his neck. A cocky smirk adorned his features while the morning light bounced of the golden locks of hair.

“You told me you had to be back at C3 before the sun rose, but I know you wanted to talk, so I made sure you couldn’t leave before I was awake,” Mikuni took another sip from his mug, trying not to act too smugly—but oh was it hard not to. He’d wanted to do this for years.

Tsurugi stared at Mikuni wide-eyed in horror at the others actions and began flailing about trying to break the spell off his wrists and release them. Mikuni watched him struggle knowing there was no way Tsurugi would be able to get out. He was certain Tsurugi knew this as well, but he would still fight against it because that’s what broken people did.

“I have to get back to Touma-san,” Tsurugi tried to explain with a bit of panic lacing his voice, “He’s going to be really mad if I’m not there for work. Kuni-chan please!” Tsurugi began to struggle more, “Please I’ll do anything you want, just let me go.”

“Why don’t you start by telling me what the hell last night was all about?” came Mikuni’s flat reply. He set down his mug and looked down at Tsurugi with an unamused expression. All of the smug aura had vanished for the moment, leaving behind a steely anger in its wake.

“You call me at 3 in the morning screaming ‘you miss me you miss me’ and begging me to come and see you, then immediately say you need to go back to Touma without explaining anything? No, you’re not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on in that fucked up head of yours.”

“Kuni-chan please! He’ll be mad!”

“What’s more important to you Tsurugi? Me or that bastard you sold your soul for!”

“…” Tsurugi stopped his thrashing for a moment, keeping his eyes on Mikuni.

Mikuni sighed and got up from the table, leaving his coffee behind for the time being. Jeje had slithered off the moment yelling had started between them. Even he was growing tempted to put the pair in their place, but he withheld himself for now unless the pair really got out of hand like last night.

Mikuni walked over to the bed and knelt down over Tsurugi, planting his hands on either side of the man just above his shoulders. He looked down directly into the yellow orbs that stared up at him with a concerned panic.

“Do you still feel anything when I look down at you like this?” he spoke between them.

Tsurugi could feel a heat rise from his lower back up to his neck and cheeks as Mikuni looked over him from above. His eyes were captivated by the amber ones gazing down into him—past him—searching for Tsurugi’s true feelings past his barriers. He could feel sweat beading at the back of his neck and his toes curled in a resistance to shift his legs. It had been years since they’d been like this so Tsurugi was pretty quick to respond.

Mikuni of course, noticed instantly, leaning his face in closer to Tsurugi’s.

“Well… it seems like you still get heated up like this,” Mikuni moved himself to brush his lips along the side of Tsurugi’s cheek.

Tsurugi responded instantly again, tilting his head up with a small noise to allow Mikuni more access. It wasn’t even intentional on his end, but Tsurugi’s body seemed to be acting of its own accord much to the confusion in his head. Perhaps that was for the best. Tsurugi’s body always tended to speak more honestly than his mind allowed him to.

“Does Touma not touch you the way I do?” Mikuni continued, now beginning to purr his words as he moved his lips along Tsurugi’s neck.

The soft skin of Mikuni’s lips crossed over the exposed skin, trailing above the collar on Tsurugi’s neck. Mikuni noted the rise of the man’s Adam’s apple, smiling fondly against it before continuing to the other side. He coaxed Tsurugi’s head to move with him, bringing his lips back up along Tsurugi’s jawline and cheeks until they finally hovered just a breath away from his lips. Amber eyes stared into dilated gold for a tense moment. Tsurugi still loved him, deeply and honestly. The way Tsurugi’s body reacted to Mikuni’s touch was unmistakable as anything but love.

Mikuni raised a hand to brush back a few locks of raven hair from his partner’s face. With his knuckles touching the soft skin underneath, the Eve felt himself giving into old temptations as well. Really… what was the harm in doing so if Tsurugi’s body was being this honest? Perhaps in this he could finally convince the idiot beneath him to leave that bastard in C3 behind and live his own life as Mikuni had done.

The blonde wasn’t even aware of it but he had begun to grin, and that was more than enough of a go ahead to convince Tsurugi he was ok to make a move as well. Even pinned to the ground, Tsurugi took the initiative and closed the distance between them with a solid kiss. Mikuni never once pulled away in response. Tsurugi felt a wash of relief slide down his body from that alone, and opened his mouth to kiss Mikuni deeper. Running his tongue along the seam of his ex-partner’s lips he asked for permission and Mikuni obliged.

Their tongues met with a gentle and cautious touch at first. Eyes closed, they felt around blindly for each other—trying to recall one another’s taste and pleasures. Mikuni angled his head to allow deeper access and brought himself closer to Tsurugi’s body to pleasure him better. His tongue plunged deeper with the new angle, scraping along the roof of Tsurugi’s mouth which he recalled would send his ex-partner’s head spinning. It would seem 3 years hadn’t changed that as Tsurugi released his first heavy sigh and shuddered beneath Mikuni. In return, Tsurugi nipped playfully at Mikuni’s bottom lip when they parted for air briefly. The small pull of flesh was enough to stir them both and they came crashing down again more fiercely this time.

Mikuni moved his hand that was still at Tsurugi’s shoulder down to his waist and helped lift the smaller up to him so their bodies could finally meet more soundly. Unfortunately, a blanket and clothing still separated them but that was alright for now. He tested the waters once, pushing his hips forward to meet with Tsurugi while flexing his hand along the other’s back. Tsurugi in response eagerly bucked his hips with a breath of air popping his lips free. Mikuni wasn’t about to let him get away though, and chased after those lips that belonged to him, claiming them again with a possessive bite to make the blood surge to the area. Tsurugi released a breathy whine while his hands flexed in a desperation for something to grab onto. Mikuni had no intention to release his bonds though. In fact, he had an urge for something more. It was a darker urge inside of him, but he wouldn’t have done it if he knew Tsurugi wouldn’t be able to take it. For such a slight thing, Tsurugi was remarkably strong.

Moving his hand away from Tsurugi’s head, Mikuni called on his lead around his wrist and attached it to Tsurugi’s collar on his neck. There was a brief flash of fear in Tsurugi’s eyes as he saw the magic bind his neck. He recalled their meeting in the hall and feared Mikuni would once again try to end his life—especially now that he was able to move more freely to do so.

“Relax,” Mikuni cooed against his skin, brushing their noses together, “I’m not going to kill you. Not when you’re being so honest with me.”

With Mikuni’s words of reassurance Tsurugi relaxed into his hold again and Mikuni smiled.

“Like this I can still keep you here and release your hands if you behave yourself. You want to touch me back don’t you Tsurugi?” Mikuni continued and Tsurugi nodded in earnest after a moment, “Good boy, but it’s too soon for you yet. Be patient for me.”

Mikuni then moved his lips lower, pulling on his lead to coax Tsurugi’s head up higher. He kissed down along Tsurugi’s chin and jaw. He kissed even past the collar on the other’s neck and traversed down to the point his neck met his clavicle. Mikuni slipped his tongue out, letting it swirl around the crevice of skin a moment and felt Tsurugi writhe under him.

Tsurugi’s breath caught in his chest and his hips bucked again. He could feel his skin starting to burn up under the layers of blankets and clothing. Part of him couldn’t believe Mikuni was touching him again like this after so many years—and especially after last night, but he was happy. This touch was the one he’d missed the most and had let closest to him. Mikuni’s fingers had always stayed smooth and gentle on him even when they were passionately rolling around in bed or slammed up against the wall. Mikuni always managed to be gentle in his touch. It was something that more than anything else Tsurugi truly admired about his touch alone. No one had ever handled his body with such care—as if it were delicate and sacred; not even himself. Such care being given to a body he thought was hideous made his heart soar each time Mikuni placed a new kiss on it.

“Kuni-chan…” he whispered through rising breaths.

Mikuni hummed against Tsurugi’s neck in response, moving the hand that rested on the other’s back further down to cup his ass firmly. Tsurugi responded as one would expect and bucked up into the Alicein’s hips again with a keening whine. The elder male’s head thrashed up and Mikuni pulled on his lead to keep Tsurugi still. The combination of push and pull made Tsurugi’s head spin for a moment. Mikuni’s lead didn’t choke him at all, but it created a sense of possessive ownership and that was enough to get blood coursing through his body with a heightened lust.

Tsurugi’s legs rubbed back and forth along the bedspread with the continued action bestowed upon him. He could feel heat beginning to pool in his loins and wondered if Mikuni had yet noticed the rise in his arousal as he continued to affection the other. Deciding to let Mikuni know where things stood between them Tsurugi brought up a knee and pressed it firmly between Mikuni’s legs that were spread over him. Tsurugi wasn’t harsh or grinding, but it was enough pressure to make his stance clear on where things were headed between them.

“I want you... Kuni-chan.”

Mikuni, who had up until now been quite the smooth talker, felt himself awkwardly fumble at the knee now pressing into him. His face visibly reddened with surprise and his body naturally responded with its own heat shooting down to his groin that had met contact with Tsurugi. His hand dropped from Tsurugi’s ass in a hasty attempt to support himself from buckling on top of the other.

Tsurugi didn’t let this moment go unnoticed and took it as his chance to gain the upper hand with a low chuckle between them.

“No one can touch you like I do either… right Kuni-chan?” he purred back, mimicking his ex-partner’s words from earlier.

Even against the bonds, Tsurugi managed to raise his torso up enough to press his lips against Mikuni’s quivering ones. Tsurugi was damn lucky he was as flexible as he was or this never would’ve worked otherwise. He could feel his core muscles tightening as they worked to support him and raise him up against his restraints. His knee began to rub and grind in-between Mikuni’s legs to stimulate his blood in that region.

Mikuni could feel his own strength weakening with Tsurugi’s touch. His grip on the lead tightened and he kept the distance between them short in order for Tsurugi to continue without straining himself as badly. Tsurugi circulated his knee in slow rotations, feeling Mikuni’s body heating up above him. The Ace kissed wherever he could reach on the other. His clavicle, his neck, his chin, his cheeks, his lips… As Tsurugi captured Mikuni’s mouth in another passionate embrace he decided to act as the devil between them and sharply pushed his knee up then; grinding Mikuni’s package against the fly of his pants.

Mikuni bit back a growl, hissing it out between his teeth while Tsurugi pulled at his bottom lip again. The hand on the bed now being used to support himself tightened—pulling the fabric with it as he tried to draw out his tension through it. What had started as a simple make-out session was unravelling quickly and Mikuni was running out of patience with his playful bed mate; as he usually did when around Tsurugi.

With a low hum underneath his breath, Mikuni pulled on his lead again. He released the magic on Tsurugi’s wrists in a moment of ill-advised haste and crashed his lips against Tsurugi’s again with a bruising force. Tsurugi’s hands in response flew up the moment their restraints were dispelled and braced themselves against Mikuni’s back to hold him close. Tsurugi pressed his body snug against Mikuni’s from beneath, sharing in their mutual heat as lips met with a thunderous force.

Mikuni was losing his control which was exactly what Tsurugi wanted. They could act as themselves here without anyone knowing how they really felt around each other. Minds became corrupted with a flurry of intense emotions whenever their eyes met. Hands itched desperately to reach out to one another and continue their rotating game of cat and mouse. Dominant and submissive, they both had it bad for each other. It appeared 3 years of separation hadn’t completely smothered the flames between them. Mikuni kissed just as violently as he did when they had lived together. Tsurugi’s hands were just as desperate to hold as they’d been the first time they were intimate. Fingers clawed along Mikuni’s back, begging for more than the simple bump and grind they were indulging in.

Mikuni broke apart their kiss with a wet pop, breathing down heavily at his partner with a lusted gaze shared between them, “…I don’t have any lubricant anymore… we’re going to have to improvise. You ok with that…?”

Mikuni knew the answer. Tsurugi would always agree to anything but habits were hard to break and he wanted the other to be aware rather than thrust inconveniences upon him. Tsurugi liked that about Mikuni and nodded in earnest; eager to plunge back in their shared heat.

The pair crashed down again, this time with Mikuni bringing the pair both down to bed so their muscles were no longer straining. The hand not holding onto his lead, once again acted and began ripping at the covers to pull them away from their bodies. Mikuni had dealt with barriers long enough between them and was eager to feel Tsurugi’s body against him after so long apart.

“My mind always gets so hazy around you damnit,” he cussed through his breath as they parted for air.

Both of their lips were beginning to swell from the intense kissing, but neither seemed to mind it. What do you expect after 3 years of quietly lusting under the sheets alone? With the covers finally pulled far enough, Mikuni kicked the remainder away from his bed into an uncaring heap beside them.

Tsurugi was busily working on raising Mikuni’s desperation up to his own level, kissing feverishly along any revealed skin he could find. His hands skimmed up Mikuni’s back and along his shoulder blades to reach the base of his head. Fingers interlocked with the various gold tresses and kneaded them gently to massage the scalp beneath. Mikuni’s hair was so beautiful. Tsurugi had found himself on more than one occasion envious of it and took almost every opportunity available to run his hands through it.

Much to the 26-year-old’s delight, Mikuni seemed to be coming undone rather quickly the way he sighed heavily into Tsurugi’s touch and rolled his head to meet the other’s hand. Never once did Mikuni stop in his rush to undress them however, and worked to quickly undo the fly to Tsurugi’s pants. Buttons were rather tedious metal obstructions, but at least Tsurugi made himself convenient enough to never wear a belt. That was about the last thing Mikuni wanted to deal with right now and inwardly groaned at himself knowing he’d have to get his own off at some point.

With his fly undone, Mikuni slipped his hand into Tsurugi’s trousers, cupping his half-hard length still shielded by his underwear—for the time being. Mikuni didn’t care if he partially pulled down Tsurugi’s slacks in the process with the force of his entry; they’d be coming off soon enough anyways. He inhaled deeply with a shudder feeling Tsurugi’s arousal swelling in his hand. It was so warm… it made Mikuni’s heart pound loud enough he swore he could hear it in his own ears.

“God you’re warm here…” he whispered between them as he moved his head down to kiss along Tsurugi’s neck again.

Tsurugi himself had lost much of his own control when Mikuni had finally slipped his hand in and had all but stopped his own hand movements. Instead of methodical fingers roaming along the base of Mikuni’s head, they now twitched uncontrollably with each movement of Mikuni’s palm against his heated arousal. The whimpers Mikuni had been hoping for since they’d started finally began to spill from Tsurugi’s mouth. The bottom of the pair fell back against the bed again and his knee relaxed against Mikuni’s groin giving back the poor blonde some sense of control. Mikuni’s grin widened and he felt something primal stir inside of him as he began to feel more roughly inside of Tsurugi’s trousers.

“Is this how much you missed me Tsurugi?” he cooed against the crook of the man’s neck, “…I’m disappointed~ I expected more from you after 3 years.”

Tsurugi had little sense left within him to respond back with something witty. Mikuni’s palm was like fire against him and sent burning desires shooting down his back. His mouth opened with a moan and he arched his chest up as the first call of desire rattled through him. Hands fell from Mikuni’s head ungracefully; scanning along the bed spread to find a better purchase.

“Tsurugi,” Mikuni purred his name again travelling devious lips up along the large muscle in his neck.

Tsurugi bit his lips together, breathing heavily as sweat beaded along his brow line. Mikuni’s travelling lips edging closer and closer to his earlobe was driving him just as mad as the circling hand against his pulsing groin. Mikuni seemed to be all too aware of this and bit down firmly on the pierced lobe as he squeezed Tsurugi’s package. Tsurugi cried out in response, banging the palm of his hand against the bed with pleasure once before bringing it over his mouth. Mikuni caught him though—momentarily releasing his lead to pull Tsurugi’s hand down and force the other to look at him. Mikuni reluctantly let go of Tsurugi’s ear in the process, speaking against Tsurugi’s skin as their eyes met in close proximity.

“Don’t be quiet. No one’s watching us this time,” he kept his gaze locked with Tsurugi’s golden one, “Show me how much you want me… no holding back.”

Mikuni them moved up, pressing a kiss on Tsurugi’s sweaty brow before moving down on the other. Tsurugi felt the urge to lean up and see where Mikuni was going—but he knew damn well where the other was headed with that look. He felt the zipper to his—or rather, Mikuni’s jacket being undone. The clasp for the front lapel was loosened and the garment opened. Mikuni took both hands to push up Tsurugi’s shirt beneath and kissed along the scarred skin of his torso. Each scar Tsurugi carried looked so painful normally—even if they didn’t cause physical pain any longer. However, right now Mikuni could only see them as desirable. Cruel as it was, he could recall each scar that had been made when they were together. Some were from long before, and others like the large one on his stomach, ones Mikuni would never forget. Mikuni took a considerable amount of time admiring the large scar that stretched across Tsurugi’s abdomen, keeping to it with an extra tender affection. Tsurugi didn’t need to jump out in front of him that day—Mikuni was sure he could’ve protected himself, and yet he did it anyways.

Mikuni moved the hand not currently rubbing Tsurugi’s loins in a slow circle, out to find one of Tsurugi’s hands. Blind fingers felt for the other’s palm and interlocked together as Mikuni kissed the old wound in both thanks and forgiveness. Tsurugi gripped Mikuni’s hand tightly in response. He didn’t feel shame or guilt over this wound in specific. Actually… with many of his scars Tsurugi never felt they were ugly around Mikuni. The way his ex-partner had handled them with such care and affection every time they were together was yet another thing that warmed Tsurugi’s tattered heart. Mikuni knew that these scars were just as much a part of Tsurugi as anything else and treated them as such.

“Kuni-chan…” he pleaded again with a whisper before Mikuni finally moved away from them and continued on to his main goal.

Further and further down the blonde head traversed, reaching the hem of Tsurugi’s slacks. Mikuni ran his tongue along his bottom lip, feeling his mouth water at the prospect before him. Tsurugi seemed to know instantly and his arousal twitched eagerly in response. This only made Mikuni’s lusted gaze burn brighter as he roughly yanked down Tsurugi’s trousers and briefs to reveal his half-hard arousal. Mikuni cast aside the garments soon after, no longer finding their presence needed.

Tsurugi shuddered in response to the sudden cold air kissing his half erect self after such warm contact. The hand holding onto Mikuni’s squeezed tightly again while eagerly awaiting Mikuni’s mouth on him.

“You’re not nearly as ready as I’d hoped,” Mikuni teased, much to Tsurugi’s surprise and forced the man to lift his head and look down at Mikuni who at the same moment descended over Tsurugi’s length.

Damn bastard--- he did that on purpose to capture Tsurugi’s gaze, and Tsurugi knew it with the way he was smirking and keeping amber hues fixated on Tsurugi’s face while sucking him down. With the hot mouth engulfing half of his length Tsurugi moaned again into the room, digging nails into the back of Mikuni’s hand. Mikuni revelled in the reaction, knowing he was the only one that could make Tsurugi break down like this. That annoying bastard was always wearing a mask to hide himself behind, but Mikuni would be damned if he was going to put up with it a moment longer anymore. They had been together too long to wear masks anymore, and Mikuni would be the only one to remove Tsurugi’s if he had to rip it off the damn idiot. Tsurugi probably would never believe him… but it was when all of his barriers were down that the Ace of C3 was at his most beautiful.

With his own lusting drive pulling at him to hurry up and stop dawdling on how erotic his partner was beginning to look, Mikuni focused back on pleasure. Mikuni bobbed his head up and down in the beginning, warming himself up as well as his partner. Tsurugi was already quickly becoming a hot mess with legs spread wide to accommodate. Mikuni took advantage of this removing his hands from Tsurugi (much to the other’s reluctance) and rested them on the inner of Tsurugi’s bared thighs. The skin here was so soft it clashed violently with the rest of Tsurugi’s body. It reminded Mikuni much like the skin of a peach and made his desire soar. He swallowed against Tsurugi’s length making the other twitch and resist the overwhelming temptation to buck his hips.

Mikuni then slipped his mouth over the head of Tsurugi’s erection, running his tongue along the side to coat it in his saliva. This was Mikuni’s property now and he’d be damned to let anyone else take it from him. He would mark every part of Tsurugi to claim his stake if he had to.

Moving his mouth around, Mikuni made sure to kiss and caress every part of Tsurugi’s swollen length with his own taste. His hands rubbed against Tsurugi’s thighs in circular motions to stimulate the nerves there. It seemed to be working given how much Tsurugi’s chest began to bounce up and down with his breathing. Tsurugi had always been shit with receiving blow jobs. The man could certainly give them, but receiving he had no stamina and quickly became undone. Mikuni knew to watch for Tsurugi’s limit though and continued on; flicking his tongue against the base of his erection.

Tsurugi felt his head spinning with each lick and kiss against his hot arousal. Mikuni was being more thorough than he ever recalled the other being in the past. Tsurugi could hear his breathing becoming more and more audible as time passed. His skin was nearly covered in a sheen of sweat now and it caused the clothing still upon him to cling uncomfortably to his person. Mikuni didn’t seem to care and took Tsurugi’s head back into his mouth. He swirled his tongue slowly over the slit while one hand reached up to pump Tsurugi once. Tsurugi grit his teeth in response again, feeling another moan brewing inside him. He hit his palm against the bed once again as Mikuni slowly dragged his hand up along the erect length. The wet sounds of saliva and precum resounded in his ears and made his cheeks flush a vivid red. Mikuni could feel the tension coiling inside the other and watched his stomach flex and twitch with resistance to call out again. So beautiful… even if he was shit at taking it.

Mikuni ran his hand up slowly again, squeezing around the base of Tsurugi’s length. Moving his mouth back over the head, he could taste the precum mixing with his saliva now. Tsurugi was getting there and about damn time given his own arousal was now becoming painfully erect. Mikuni hollowed his cheeks as he began to descend lower on Tsurugi. He wanted to squeeze the other deeply enough that it finally pushed out the moan he knew the other was holding back. To be safe, Mikuni pressed his thumb flatly against the thick vein of Tsurugi’s arousal. Mikuni didn’t want anything ending early between them.

Inch by inch, Mikuni worked his way down, hollowing his cheeks with each suck, and then blowing down hot air as he descended further. By the time Mikuni was halfway down on him, Tsurugi’s moan finally released with an arc of his back. Each subsequent breath after ended with a pleading whine for his ex-partner. Tsurugi’s form thrashed from side to side in desperation for something deeper. Mikuni took each sound in stride, letting it ring in his ears and swim down to his swelling girth. The golden locks of hair on his head were beginning to cling to his skin due to his own heat. It was only when a bead of sweat slithered down his cheek and dripped down onto Tsurugi’s groin did Mikuni finally have enough and released Tsurugi’s length from his mouth with a wet pop. A mixture of saliva and silvery precum clung to his lips as he pulled back. A single swipe of his tongue sent it down his mouth where it belonged. Mikuni panted down at Tsurugi, admiring the other’s flushed skin glistening in the sunlight.

Yah… from now on this was definitely going to be his. Fuck Touma… that bastard could rot in hell.

“Up,” Mikuni snapped his fingers with a breathy order.

Tsurugi did his best to oblige, but with such a dazed head it was hard to focus on everything. Mikuni managed to get up himself just enough to remove his own clothing. Starting first with his shirt and then onto his slacks at last he was finally met with his ornate western belt and inwardly cursed his sense of style for including it. Wet fingers fumbled with the buckle for a moment, but being too impatient to focus Mikuni quickly became irritated with it. Tsurugi, who’d managed to at least sit up by now, noticed Mikuni’s feverish struggling and learned over to help. His hands were shaky and slicked with sweat, but he was less impatient than Mikuni was at the moment. Mikuni watched Tsurugi with another surge of primal desire pushing at him and felt his cock twitch in eagerness to plunge into that open mouth. Hell… nearly any orifice on the raven hair would do at the moment. He needed to claim Tsurugi now and hard.

Just as luck would have it at that moment the belt came loose on Mikuni and Tsurugi undid his fly, helping Mikuni’s slacks off. Too eager for his own good, Tsurugi kissed at the base of Mikuni’s navel, eager to taste the other’s skin again. Mikuni had to heavily fight back the urge to grab hold of the other’s head at that moment and shove him face first against his throbbing need. He knew Tsurugi wouldn’t have minded it, but he really did not have the stamina to hold on through that.

“Off—off,” he snapped before he could lose what little sanity he had remaining. Mikuni swirled his index finger in a circular motion—indicating for Tsurugi to turn around.

Tsurugi did as instructed and removed himself woefully from Mikuni’s skin, turning himself and preparing to get on his hands and knees.

“No—“ Mikuni stopped him, grabbing his waist and pulling him flush against his stomach. Mikuni could feel his bared arousal poking into the dip in Tsurugi’s lower back right before meeting his ass and had to bite down another powerful instinct to just mercilessly plow into him.

“Arms out… of the jacket,” he panted, taking a moment to sway his hips back so he wasn’t driven as mad by the other’s bare skin.

Tsurugi was now becoming quite confused by Mikuni’s orders and looked back over his shoulder at the other. Golden hues were ebbed with uncertainty and innocence and that just about sent Mikuni over the edge.

“Jesus Christ—“ Fuck it. He’d do it himself and helped the jacket off Tsurugi in a rather rough gesture. Of course… he’d have to get the shirt off next. However, Mikuni simply didn’t have the time or patience to do so. It was at that moment a thought crossed his mind and he threw his jacket back onto the C3 member, zipping it up and tying the loose arms back around Tsurugi to pin his arms down inside of it; just as his cloak would do.

“You like me so much… you can be surrounded by me as I fuck you until you can’t think straight,” he hissed breathlessly in Tsurugi’s ear; making the other flush from head to toe.

To say Tsurugi didn’t enjoy the idea of being fucked senselessly by Mikuni was the world’s most grand of understatements and he knew it. Indulging in the dangers of a fully undone Mikuni, Tsurugi tempted him further with a wicked grin. When the pair were fully indulged with each other they were a dangerous force to be reckoned with. There were no boundaries and no limitations on how far they were willing to go with each other.

“I want you to fuck me until I don’t know anything but you,” Tsurugi purred back against his former love, “I want to be stuffed so full by you that I can’t walk for days... I want you to be dripping out of me every time I move my legs. Every time I look at you… I want to be brought to my knees thinking of you coming inside me. Paint my legs white so anyone that ever looks at me knows that you own me.”

Well if Mikuni had any chance of holding onto his sanity it was gone now. At this point Tsurugi would be lucky if he was even stretched before Mikuni took him without remorse. The moment Tsurugi had finished his statement his mouth was jammed full with Mikuni’s hand. A muffled moan slipped out as his tongue slathered the digits invading him with his saliva. Mikuni’s other arm fell to Tsurugi’s waist and pulled him up flush against his body once again. Mikuni’s cock was throbbing against Tsurugi’s back door, making the Ace scream out in desperation with his mouth stuffed full. As desperately as they both wanted to be joined after fooling around for too long, Mikuni refused to be _‘that guy’._ The moment he felt his hand was coated enough to not cause Tsurugi any pain, he pulled from the other’s mouth leaving a few strands of saliva trailing in his wake.

Mikuni had absolutely no patience to bother with counting fingers and started off by inserting two into Tsurugi’s quivering hole. Tsurugi cried out and pulled against Mikuni’s arm, but the other held fast to him. Tsurugi was unexpectedly tight for his personal habits which made Mikuni wonder how long it had been since anyone had touched him. Mikuni abandoned the question for the time being. He couldn’t be fucked to ask about it right now; likewise, for Tsurugi’s comfort level. The raven hair had brought this down upon himself so it was his own fault if he couldn’t handle it now.

Pumping the two digits in and out, Mikuni started by only going as deep as half of his fingers. He didn’t want Tsurugi to tear, having not expected him to be this tight. Soon enough though, he felt the ring of muscles begin to give way and relax and brought his digits in further until they were buried in fully. The pair were both panting heavily, watching Tsurugi’s body practically sucking in Mikuni’s fingers. Tsurugi’s legs were spread wide over Mikuni’s with his hips tilted up to watch himself. Mikuni in turn was hunched over Tsurugi’s shoulder, breathing in the other’s scent as he stretched him out.

Not long after his first two fingers were accepted the third was finally added in. Tsurugi’s body seemed to accept the third finger much more easily than it had the first two, which was all Mikuni needed to know the other was ready for him. With a brief look shared between them they kissed again in a messy collide knowing what was to finally come after waiting for so long. Tsurugi began first by parting and raising himself up on his knees. Without the assistance of his arms he trusted Mikuni’s guiding arm to position him, lowering himself enough to feel the Alicein’s erect head proudly greeting his entrance. It stung in the sweetest way knowing that first plunge was about to wreak havoc on him and in a breath’s release the two collided.

Tsurugi and Mikuni’s worlds both went blank for a moment as they connected again. They were both pretty sure they’d cried out in unison at having finally met after so long. Alas, there was no time to savour the moment for what it was worth. They were both quickly approaching their limits with each other. Mikuni was the first to come to, more or less, and peered glossy eyes up at Tsurugi who was panting heavily with a flushed countenance. Mikuni had never felt his desire pour so warmly into his heart as it did in that moment. Seeing Tsurugi’s face without any mask hiding it was the most beautiful thing he’d seen in this world for quite some time. It almost gave him hope for something better than the reality they were both tied to. He could feel Tsurugi’s muscles struggling to accept him and did his best to wait patiently for the go ahead now that they were finally slotted together.

“…You really…” Tsurugi panted, finally opening his eyes. Tears streamed down from the corners as he shifted his hips—trying to find some better way to take Mikuni into him. It seemed to prove impossible however, “…fuck--… you have grown bigger.”

Having thought he’d already lost any hope of sanity in this, Mikuni was taken yet again as something inside of him finally snapped. Whether Tsurugi’s words were a go ahead or not, Mikuni took them as such and sunk his hips back before plowing in again just as deeply. Tsurugi’s chest thrusted upwards with another cry breaking from his mouth. Mikuni didn’t care anymore of the consequences and carried on with a reckless abandon. Hands possessively clung around Tsurugi, digging into his shoulder and lower abdomen. His mouth bit into the juncture of Tsurugi’s neck, marking him for all to see. Every time Tsurugi would be in the eye of the public they would know who was fucking him. He was going to plow him hard enough Tsurugi would be walking with a limp for a week. So help him if they crossed paths again and Tsurugi went weak in the knees knowing exactly who really owned him.

“Call my name,” he growled against Tsurugi’s ear as he slammed his hips into the other, “Be mine and mine only. Call for me… Tsurugi.”

Tsurugi himself was a bit preoccupied with his hips practically being bruised by the force behind Mikuni’s thrusts. His mind went blank with each pound into him, causing Mikuni’s words to blur in and out of his ears. He had no idea what the other was saying, but his body still somehow responded.

“Kuni-chan…!” he began between moans but it wasn’t enough for the one taking him.

Mikuni brought them down against the bed in a sudden surge of primal instinct. His body curled over Tsurugi’s, never once stopping the driving force of his hips as he slammed full force into the one beneath him. He could feel his head peaking against the other’s prostate, making his head spin. Each slap of wet skin together sent both of their senses spiralling as Tsurugi too began to buck his hips back against Mikuni’s own. Picking up the pace, Mikuni began driving home faster and harder as Tsurugi screamed louder. Tsurugi’s face was buried against the bed in a mixture of sweat and tears. He could feel his erection dripping down onto the sheets as the need to cum swelled inside him while his arms strained against the jacket tied around him.

“Call my name!” Mikuni demanded again, clawing his hand against Tsurugi’s patch of revealed skin by his neck.

 _‘Kuni-chan’_ wasn’t good enough anymore. That was the barrier between them speaking. He wanted his full name; the one he knew that Tsurugi held with a high regard inside him. If he couldn’t even get that out of Tsurugi when they were like this then there really was no hope for him.

There was a small sound from beneath Mikuni; something like a choked gasp or clipped moan. Mikuni knew what it was and quickly grabbed hold of Tsurugi’s length to keep him from coming. Tsurugi’s cock twitched violently at the resistance it met, filled to the brim and ready to burst. Tsurugi whined in protest not knowing who or what was stopping him, as his body desperately tried to release.

“No you don’t…” Mikuni gasped as he continued on, “I’m not letting you come until you call for me.”

Tsurugi whined again in feeble protest for his body. He was past his limit now. He couldn’t support himself with his arms tied to his back. Mikuni surrounded him in his heat and it made Tsurugi’s heart feel like it was going to burst from his chest. Each time Mikuni plunged into him Tsurugi could see bursts of white at the corners of his eyes. He was completely smothered by the one he adored most and wanted to stay buried beneath him forever.

“It’s now or never Tsurugi…” Mikuni was quickly approaching his limit now. He wouldn’t be able to stay them both off forever. His thrusts were becoming erratic and shallow. His will to persevere on fading with the sweet beckoning of release drawing ever closer. He pleaded once more, knowing this was their last chance. Would Tsurugi choose to live life for himself or was he truly broken beyond repair? “Leave him… call my name…!”

Tsurugi, true to their words earlier, was quickly losing his ability to think straight—hell even look straight as he lay top half on the bed with his ass raised to meet his maker. The only sounds he could make out in his pounding ears were the wet slaps of skin and grunting moans of his ex-partner bearing his all into him. For Tsurugi, this was perfect… just like this in this little world knowing nothing but Mikuni’s cock swelling inside of him… But something was making this perfect world go away. Why was it leaving? Who was pulling him away from it all? Blindly, he reached a hand out to try and pull it back to him, not knowing he was reaching out in the real world as well.

“Mikuni…!” he whimpered, seeing his reaching hand being taken just as his illusionary world faded to white.

“…I got you.”

They came in a violent burst together. Tsurugi spilled himself onto the bed beneath while Mikuni poured into him with a powerful thrust. Tsurugi’s entire lower half felt raw—what of it he could feel that is to say. He could feel something warm and wet trailing down his legs as they swayed back and forth. Was Mikuni still fucking him as he came? Tsurugi had no idea and weakly turned his head back to see. He was met instead with a passionate kiss finally sending him down to the bed completely with Mikuni’s arms wrapped tightly around him.

 

* * *

 

The next time Tsurugi came to it was mid-afternoon. Fuck, Touma was going to be furious—yet, somehow that seemed rather trivial at the moment. Tsurugi wasn’t sure why at first until he looked over to see Mikuni passed out peacefully beside him. Tsurugi stole a moment to himself and reached a hand to pet the golden locks of hair away from the other’s face. It was then Tsurugi noticed that the straps on his hands were missing as well as his remaining clothing. Hadn’t he been pinned down by them earlier, as well as restrained by the jacket? The C3 member looked around him, unconsciously raising a hand to his neck to feel his collar was gone too. What the hell? He didn’t remember taking these off. Well… he could replace them anyways if need be. He needed to get back to the base. He was sure he had a number of missed calls from work and got up to retrieve his clothing.

Upon attempting to do so however, the 26-year-old felt himself buckle and toppled over just past the bed into an uncoordinated heap. Inwardly, he cursed at his body for being so unstable and tried to help himself up again. As he shifted his legs, grabbing onto the bookshelf for support, he felt something sticky ooze down between his legs from a place all too deep inside to be of comfort and went bright red.

“You told me to fuck you until you couldn’t walk for days,” a voice spoke out behind him. Tsurugi turned his head to see Mikuni laying on his side in bed with a hand resting beneath his head to prop himself up. A classic smirk of a smug victory was painted on the blonde man’s face. It should’ve been a sin to look that good while playing the devil’s advocate.

“You wanted me to be dripping out of you every time you moved your legs and have them be painted in white. And I did just that. Although, I’m flattered you actually went as far as to buckle your knees when looking at me.”

“Where are my clothes Kuni-chan?” Tsurugi tried to ignore the burning heat in his cheeks and cover his destroyed ass to the best of his ability.

“Laundry,” Mikuni replied simply.

It was about at that time Tsurugi actually noticed the subtle sound of the washer going near the entryway. Shit, he didn’t have time for this, he needed to get back to the base.

“I’m borrowing your clothes then.”

“What for?” Mikuni knew damn well what for, but he indulged in playing with Tsurugi a bit longer.

“I need to get back.”

“Nah~” Mikuni rolled onto his back then, laying his arms behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling, “I don’t think so.”

Tsurugi looked back over to Mikuni not understanding what the other was getting at.

“After you fell asleep I took the liberty of calling up the president. Told him that you were done working for C3 and you had a new owner that was going to be paying you better.”

Tsurugi’s brows furrowed not liking this game anymore.

Mikuni let a silence settle into the room for a moment, drawing on the tension rising in the air. His grin grew wider and he dearly wished for a moment that he smoked like his ex-partner did so he could play the classic villain like in those old black and white films. He turned his head back over to Tsurugi then and cast a devious look.

“I bought you.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> { Ok so this was totally intended to be a one-shot after a request from a friend but I am really really tempted to put this into a multi-chapter fic now. Aaahhh… There’s so much at the end that’s unexplained but this is already so long. Hmmm… to continue or leave the rest of you to draw your own conclusions on what happens next? }


	2. Chapter 2

“Where the _fuck_ is he this time,” Yumikage grumbled in the meeting room.

He sat haphazardly in his chair with one foot pressed against the edge of the laminate table. The other foot pushed his chair off the ground just enough that it balanced on its back legs. The blonde could then rock himself back and forth on them as pleased. Yumikage Tsukimitsu wasn’t exactly a patient man, but he knew Tsurugi had a tendency to be later than all of them in the combat squad. Some captain… Ah well. To be honest he didn’t much care for meetings either. In fact, it was rare that any of the three members made it to a scheduled meeting on time or at all. Even the most responsible of them; Junichirou, who sat opposite Tsukimitsu reading through a small booklet was not exempt from this fact.

“Knowing Tsurugi, anywhere,” Junichirou replied while flipping to the next page in his booklet. Inside was a list of subclasses and vampires they served under (if known). Some had been stamped as captured, some erased, and some yet to have more information disclosed. Today’s meeting was about a matter not entirely unrelated to the book, so Junichirou had felt the need to brush up. He was still attempting to get situated after having come back from a rather sudden paternal leave. No one had ever asked thankfully, but it didn’t take much to guess the reason with the recent passing of his wife.

“Aaurgh--! That bastard! This meeting should’ve started an hour ago!” Yumikage slammed his chair down in frustration.

“You only got here 15 minutes ago yourself, you’re hardly in a place to argue,” Junichirou replied calmly, not once lifting his eyes from his reading material.

Yumikage was tempted to fire back but bit his tongue knowing Junichirou was right. He threw himself against the table gruffly with arms folded on the surface. A grimacing pout crept its way onto his face while he impatiently began bouncing his foot against the floor. As if that would make the seconds tick by more quickly…

Junichirou held back a chuckle at his friend’s impatience and flipped to the next page in his book. It was at that time he could feel his cell buzzing in the pocket of his coat and set down his material to pull it out. Junichirou didn’t think much of it at first, assuming it was regular business or an urgent mission. Taking a look at the caller ID however, his face darkened.

Yumikage looked up from his pointed stare at the table when Junichirou pulled out his cell. He didn’t miss the look on the other member’s face and his brows lowered in response.

“Hello?” Junichirou opened.

“Are there cameras where you are?” the voice replied.

“…” Junichirou took a moment to glance up and about the room with his eyes only, “…3.”

“Go outside and make like you’re going to the park. I’ll call again in 5 minutes.”

Junichirou flickered his gaze over to Yumikage who was now very intently looking at him, trying to figure out what was going on. With a sigh Junichirou closed his eyes briefly, “…Got it.”

He lowered the phone and ended the call. Placing the cell phone back into his pocket, Junichirou stood up from his chair.

“Let’s go.”

“Is it a mission?” Yumikage furrowed his brows, standing more cautiously. He proceeded out of the room following Junichirou’s lead. His nerves on the matter were not entirely settled.

“Mm…” Junichirou simply hummed in response heading out of the room towards the elevator. He pressed the button to call for the elevator to go down and rested his back against the wall. Hands stuffed in his pockets, he looked forward to Yumikage. Something about the curtness of the call advised to him not to reveal too many details, especially with regard to the cameras around them. However, he couldn’t keep Yumikage completely in the dark, “Something like that.”

“What about the idiot?” the blonde of course meant Tsurugi.

“He’ll be called if he’s needed. It didn’t sound urgent,” Junichirou attempted to keep his voice as nonchalant as possible to wave off any suspicion.

The pair got into the elevator when it arrived and headed down towards the ground floor. It was a bit of a ways down so Yumikage took the time to try and gain a bit more information about their mission. Junichirou’s darkened countenance from earlier still picked at Yumikage—a sort of unsettling notion.

“Who’s the order from?” Yumikage tried to play the nonchalant game as well, though he wasn’t nearly as convincing as his partner.

“I’ll tell you when we get outside.”

“What the hell? I can’t even know who the fuck is talking to us?!”

Well… he tried.

“Calm down would you?” Junichirou snapped back at his partner, “I’m not trying to keep secrets from you. I’ll let you know as soon as we get outside.”

Yumikage was tempted to slam his foot against the elevator wall, but not wanting to get stuck inside in case it broke down as a result he voted against doing so. Getting stuck in an elevator really wasn’t a fun experience. He knew this from having already done it before once in his youth. It only took the one time to learn. Having a severely full bladder didn’t help either. It had taken him weeks to live that incident down no thanks to Tsurugi.

When the pair reached the ground floor, Junichirou exited first with Yumikage following him begrudgingly. The blonde’s hands were stuffed into his pockets. Firsts clenched tightly and shoulders were hunched as he trudged behind Junichirou who seemed to be walking completely normally. Given Yumikage’s general demeanour, seeing him pissed off as hell was actually pretty normal. So in that regard, none of the staff in the building really thought the pair odd. That is to say… no more odd than usual.

Once outside, Junichirou continued walking, making for the park as instructed. He pulled his phone out checking the time. It was about 5 minutes past now… anytime.

“Would you at least tell me where the fuck we’re going?!” Yumikage yelled even louder now that they were outside.

Yumikage had enough sense not to blare his voice (usually) while indoors. Outside was another matter entirely—regardless of any people passing by that turned their heads at him.

“The park,” Junichirou replied.

“What the fuck are we going to do at the park?! Fight shitty subclass in broad daylight?” Yumikage was practically screaming now.

Of course this meant it was the opportune moment for Junichirou’s phone to start ringing. The elder of the two sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose beneath his glasses. He paused in his steps a moment and hit the talk button on his phone, holding it up to his ear.

“Hey,” he replied more casually, “We’re not at the park yet but we’re outside the building. Is that ok?”

“WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING TO?!” Yumikage blared at Junichirou now trying to get himself closer to the phone.

“Would you knock it off?!” Junichirou finally snapped back while pulling the phone away from his rowdy partner.

“Tsukimitsu-san sounds as lively as ever,” the voice spoke over the phone.

“Oh yah… he’s _real_ thrilled about what’s going on,” Junichirou grumbled back while fending off the enraged blonde.

“How far are you away from the building?”

“Mm…” Junichirou lifted his head up above Yumikage, using a single larger hand to hold other back by his forehead and looked at the distance between where they stood and C3’s base, “About a block away.”

There was silence on the phone for a minute as the voice at the other end seemed to contemplate their next words.

“Alright. Keep walking though.”

“I think Yumikage’s going to strangle me if I don’t tell him who’s calling, do you mind?”

“Go ahead. You’re out of the building at least.”

Junichirou sighed with a visible relief and looked down at Yumikage who was positively fuming at him. Steely blue eyes were set ablaze and ready to murder—having had enough of being fucked around with. Junichirou stared at him a moment in hopes some of those fumes may dissipate before he revealed the identity of their caller.

“…It’s Mikuni.”

“ _THAT ALICEIN **BASTARD?!**_ WHAT THE _HELL_ DOES HE WANT?”

Ah… exactly what Junichirou was afraid of. While most of the members of C3 were fairly unmoved about Mikuni’s leaving, Yumikage took it as an act of betrayal almost. To say the two were on bad terms was a bit of an understatement. Then again, most people were on bad terms with Yumikage. It didn’t help either that Yumikage and Tsurugi shared a special… almost parent-child bond with each other. So when Mikuni had left leaving Tsurugi heartbroken, try as he might to hide it, Yumikage knew how it had hurt him and had remained pissed at Mikuni ever since. Never mind how Mikuni left with a well of confidential information critical to C3 and continued to flow in and out of C3 as he damn well pleased. The man was no better than a treacherous snake like the one he wore around his neck. Yumikage may or may not have had dreams in which he strangled the man to death by it. Most of these were a result of drinking too heavily before bed and being in a sour mood.

On the other end of the phone, Mikuni didn’t really mind Tsukimitsu’s outbursts and found them rather humorous. He probably would’ve continued to torment the other further did he not have a sleeping bed mate at his side. Amber eyes gazed down at the figure fast asleep beside him still covered in sweat from their passionate folly less than an hour ago. A smile threatened the corners of the Alicein’s mouth and tempted a hand to run through the black locks, but he resisted. Mikuni couldn’t risk waking the body next to him and ruining his delicate plan. It wasn’t often his plans were so hastily pieced together but Tsurugi had put him in a rather awkward position with this situation. Still… there was benefit to be found to it all and he’d take advantage of that as he did with any opportunity.

Getting up from the bed he was currently sharing, Mikuni walked along the floor of his apartment heading to the washroom by the entryway. Tsurugi’s clothing had since been removed from his body and placed in the washer but Mikuni hadn’t started it just yet. Nothing could be risked in waking Tsurugi up. The C3 member’s phone also sat in the same room as his clothing. Mikuni eyed it, seeing the flashing red light indicating there was a missed call. He could already guess from whom. That too… would be dealt with later.

Crossing and arm over his bare torso, Mikuni leaned against the washer and waited for Junichirou to calm the other down… or at least attempt to.

“I’ve got Tsurugi at my apartment. He came over last night,” at an ungodly hour no less.

By this point Junichirou had put Mikuni on speaker phone, knowing that there was no way in hell he’d be able to continue talking without Yumikage jamming a gun down his throat at not being included. The pair continued heading towards the park as the conversation resumed—Yumikage deciding to take over it at this point.

“What the hell did he want to talk to _you_ for?” the blonde spat. The C3 member was determined to make certain Mikuni knew full well just how vile he was in the other’s eyes.

Mikuni in response regarded the tone taken as a mere tantrum of an angry child, ‘ _Honestly Tsukimitsu, do you ever expect anyone to take you seriously when you_ _’re like this?_ _’_

“Don’t know,” Mikuni replied, peaking out of the small washroom once to make sure Tsurugi was still fast asleep—and indeed he was. The former C3 member then brought himself back into the room to continue speaking, “He called last night around 3 AM wanting to see me.”

Junichirou and Yumikage both looked at each other for some sort of clue or explanation to such an odd request from Tsurugi. The suicide captain had never once hinted at or even mentioned wanting to see Mikuni since they’d parted. Tsurugi had barely said a goodbye with the man before they walked away. Why was it now after so many years Tsurugi wanted to see Mikuni again? Didn’t they hate each other? For Mikuni that was certainly obvious. Tsurugi never brought it up though. He simply continued on as if nothing had ever happened—or tried his best to. If anything Mikuni was the one more hung up about it all. He would purposefully call ahead to make sure Tsurugi wasn’t there when he’d drop by C3’s base, and avoided Tsurugi on general principle. What had suddenly changed?

“It’s possible something got stirred up since we met in the hall the other day. You guys have Mahiru in your care right now don’t you? The Eve of Sloth?”

That and a few others, but that was beside the point at the moment. Junichirou decided to take over things from here.

“So… why are you calling? Do we need to pick him up?”

“The opposite actually.”

There was a pause from both Junichirou and Yumikage. The pair stopped dead in their tracks just outside of the park entrance and stared at the phone in Junichirou’s hand with slightly widened eyes.

“I want you to leave him here with me.”

Before Junichirou could even attempt to act, Yumikage ripped the phone from his hand and shouted right into the microphone in hopes of deafening Mikuni’s ears.

“WHY THE HELL WOULD WE LEAVE HIM WITH _YOU,_ YOU PIECE OF SHIT?! _YOU_ _’RE_ THE ONE THAT LEFT! LIKE HELL WE’RE GOING TO HAND HIM OVER TO YOU! GO ROT IN **HELL!!** ”

Mikuni burst into a muffled fit of laughter on the other end. He couldn’t help it. Yumikage was such a loaded pistol it was hilarious. The man never thought before he opened that sailor mouth of his and always ended up putting his foot in it at the same time. What an idiot…

“Yumikage! Would you calm down!?” Junichirou tried to reign in the other’s temper—mostly in hopes that Yumikage wouldn’t slam his phone into the ground and break it, “We don’t even know where the hell they are.”

“That’s right,” purred an all too smug voice on the other end. This of course… stopped Yumikage dead in his tracks, “I’m the only lifeline you have to your captain right now. If you cut off connections with me, you’ll never find him.”

Yumikage growled in response, speaking between clenched teeth, “Even if you never tell us he’ll still come back. Touma won’t let him go. You know this.”

“On the contrary, that’s my goal.”

The pair paused again which Mikuni took as an opportunity to continue.

“This is where I need your help. You want Tsurugi free of Touma’s control right?”

Yumikage flashed a set of blue eyes up at Junichirou. Something in their gaze had softened from the shards of ice glaring down at the phone moments ago. The pair both had known for years what Tsurugi had been put through by Touma. To be frank, their distaste for the vice president far outweighed their distaste at Mikuni Alicein. However, given their position within the organization it was almost impossible for them to do anything about it. They could only watch from the side lines as their childhood friend was forced to bludgeon himself to death.

The pair listened with a renewed interest in Mikuni’s plan.

“I need you two to go into the security feeds and erase the footage of him leaving last night. I’m sure it’s there. Do it quickly. The more time it’s in the database the more chance there is of it being retrieved. I plan on telling Tsurugi that I purchased him when he wakes up.”

Yumikage snorted with derision, “ _You_? Afford _him_?”

“I’m the first-born son of the Alicein family. I have good connections with the president and a shop I run on the side. It’s not so hard to believe that I’d be able to swipe Tsurugi out from Touma if I wanted to is it?”

Mikuni had a point with that. While still a bit far-fetched it was fairly believable. Junichirou decided to step up and voice the question the pair both wondered with that explanation.

“So… why don’t you?”

Mikuni grinned on the other end.

“I have a test I want to run with him… I want to see how far he can actually think for himself.”

Something about that snake-like tone didn’t sit well with Yumikage.

“If you break his heart again I swear to god—“

“Relax _mom_ ,” Mikuni mocked him. He was getting rather tired of Yumikage’s overbearingly protective nature that continued throwing a wrench into the explanation of his plans, “If I actually bought Tsurugi that’d be no different than Touma owning him. I want to see what he’d be like if he actually thought for himself.”

“He’s still going to believe that you own him though,” Junichirou pointed out.

“True, but for how long? A rouse like that won’t last forever.”

“So you expect us to keep up this rouse.”

“Boy you _are_ the smart one in the group aren’t you?”

“ _Watch it_ ,” Yumikage bared his fangs once again which caused Mikuni to laugh.

Unlike his partner who seemed about ready to tear into the phone again, Junichirou still had a few more questions. Tsurugi may act gullible, but he was actually pretty smart. There were a few occasions the spectacled man had found himself on the blinded side of a conversation with the Ace. Tsurugi was a master of wearing masks and often knew vastly more than he let on. Mikuni would have to play his moves very carefully in order for Tsurugi to not catch wind of this lie and come racing home to Touma’s open palm.

“And what if he finds out? How long do you think you can hide it from him?” Junichirou asked with a heavy concern.

“He finds out when he finds out. I can’t say for sure when it will be, but perhaps even a taste of life outside of that hell hole he lives in will be enough to spark a rebellion in him.”

True to word, when Mikuni and Tsurugi had lived together Tsurugi often bragged about how uncomplicated his life was by never having anything.

 _\--_ _‘If I_ _’ve never had anything, then I can never want something._ _’_

“So for you this creates an opportunity to immobilize C3 further and possibly cause it to collapse inward on itself,” Junichirou concluded.

“Bingo.”

Junichirou and Yumikage exchanged looks. That was a high price to pay for Tsurugi’s freedom. Much as they hated Touma, C3 meant something to them—more than it clearly meant to Mikuni. For them, C3 was a home of sorts. While they still had their own respective homes they shared a common goal with one another. They’d all been hurt in their lives and bonded to heal this hurt. C3 to them was a place where they could right the wrongs they’d been dealt, prevent others from the pain they had lived with, and build new lives from the ashes. C3 wasn’t just an organization. It wasn’t just a business or a building. It was a community. Could they really risk having it all collapse for the sake of one person’s freedom?

Putting it that way however… by saying ‘no’ that made them no different than the same man they all despised. There really was no choice looking at it that way… was there? Mikuni got them; and he was going to walk away with the whole deck of cards in his hand if his plan worked out.

“And what if he doesn’t rebel?” Junichirou finally asked.

“Then it’s like nothing ever happened. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“That’s a lot of risk you’re placing if things don’t go your way.”

“I like playing games with a thrill to them. I get bored if I can see how the game will finish. Do we have a deal?”

Now it really felt like shaking hands with the devil. Embodying his snake-like nature, Mikuni extended an offer dripping with venom. It was an offer so sweet and tempting that it begged to be taken, regardless if it may poison you. The pair exchanged looks a final time with each other before nodding their heads and coming to a silent conclusion.

“…Deal,” the combat squad replied in unison.

The devil’s advocate on the other end grinned widely, feeling a huge advantage come to his side with Kurumamori and Tsukimitsu’s agreement to his plan. He needed to stack as many cards in his favour now while he could before Touma began making his moves. Undoubtedly Touma had several in place already for just such occasions, but none had been acted on yet—or so he hoped. The more time he had to move before the king awoke the better chance Mikuni had to corner him and take the throne.

“Perfect. All you need to do besides the tape then is keep Touma at bay and if you happen to run into Tsurugi, assure him that he is completely and utterly bought and paid for by me. Not too hard is it?”

“How the hell do you expect us to keep Touma at bay?” Yumikage groaned in annoyance.

“Use your head for once would you? Does Touma even come to call on Tsurugi that often?”

True enough… it was rare Tsurugi was ever met with a visit from Touma, and when it happened he was beyond elated by the chance. It was likely they’d probably get a few weeks completely undisturbed by the man as long as nothing major happened. Even so, without Tsurugi there the likelihood of such events decreased dramatically—strangely enough.

Junichirou spoke up then, “You will check in with us and let us know how he’s doing. He may be a pawn to you in this but for us—“

“—I know what he is to you. Don’t be stupid,” Mikuni cut Junichirou off mid-sentence, “If that’s all then I’ll be letting you go now. I have a few more loose ends to tie up before he wakes. Say ‘hi’ to Tsuyuki for me. You’ll need his help.”

With that, the phone hung up on the two C3 members and Mikuni flipped the lid shut to his cell. Now… to take care of the other cell in question.

Mikuni set his phone down for the moment and took hold of Tsurugi’s. He couldn’t destroy the phone entirely or he’d risk losing Tsurugi’s trust in that his personal items were safe here. However, he didn’t want the hound of C3 being tracked by one of his annoying dog collars either. Peaking his head into the hall, Mikuni could see Tsurugi still fast asleep on his bed. Mikuni took in a breath and moved back into the transformed living room.

He made his way over to a small cabinet that housed some of his books, but also had a few bins inside. In one of the bins was a small sewing kit. As one might’ve guessed it was used for quick repairs on any of his precious dolls or sewing new clothing—when he had the time. Mikuni opened the kit and pulled out a sewing needle from it. With Tsurugi’s cell phone in hand he searched the sides for the casing of his SIM card. As expected for the casing there was a small pinhole in it that needed to be pressed down in order for the SIM card to pop out. Taking the tip of the needle, Mikuni pressed it into the pinhole and popped the case open. He then slid the delicate case out the rest of the way and removed the SIM card from the tray.

“Jeje,” he muttered, knowing that even speaking lowly Jeje would hear him. It was just as likely his phone conversation from earlier was enough to rouse his Servamp from wherever he had slithered off to. Mikuni couldn’t have imagined Jeje would’ve stuck around anywhere near Mikuni and Tsurugi with regard to the pair’s mid-morning antics.

Soon enough there was a rustling heard off in the distance and a black snake appeared at Mikuni’s side shortly after. The ex-member of C3 offered the SIM card out for Jeje to take hold of.

“Take this far away and destroy it for me. Make sure it can never be found,” he ordered.

Jeje refused for a moment by staying in place at his Eve’s side. He wanted to barter for his Eve’s blood—especially after what he’d just put up with. Seeing as Jeje hadn’t left yet, Mikuni flashed him a dangerous look that stated the Servamp would have absolutely no choice in this matter. With a reluctance, the snake opened its mouth and took the SIM card into it. He slithered up along the book case beside Mikuni and out the window of the apartment to head off and destroy the item.

“Like hell you’re going to be tracking him,” Mikuni muttered to himself just under his breath before putting the needle and kit away. Rising from his place on the floor, he marched over to his backpack for the next item he needed.

Unzipping the top pocket, Mikuni pulled out a small case that looked something like a cigarette case. He flipped open the lid to reveal its contents. Inside lay a series of small items from microchips to copper wires to the exact item he was in search for: a replacement SIM card. Being a well versed traveller, Mikuni had a variety at his disposal for whenever his plans took him out of the country. Granted it wasn’t often this occurred, but in the search for information on the Servamps, Mikuni had found himself ending up in a variety of places across the globe. As such, one acquired certain necessities. About any card from here would do as long as it fit and wasn’t of Japanese origin. As an added bonus by being a SIM card that Mikuni had used previously it was tied with his number. This meant that while the phone would no longer work for anyone else Tsurugi tried to contact, it would work if he called Mikuni. It was too perfect and the blonde found himself resisting a chuckle as he placed the new card in.

The last step in dealing with the phone then was to erase the missed call and any message if there was one. Mikuni wouldn’t erase anything entirely from Tsurugi’s phone as that would prompt suspicion. However, by blocking the calls in and out from C3 that would add to the rouse that Tsurugi truly was no longer part of the organization. The only call Mikuni needed to erase was the new one that was lighting up Tsurugi’s phone. Flipping the case open Mikuni prepared himself for the repulsive kanji that would reveal the caller. Sure enough… it was Touma. The only difference was the name was displayed as _‘Tai-chan_ _’_ on the phone. Thankfully, there was no message which would’ve been a nightmare to erase given he’d need to figure out Tsurugi’s passcode for his inbox. Deleting the notification of a missed call was simple enough task and with a few swipes and a click the evidence was gone.

All work finished for the time being, Mikuni walked back to the washroom and set Tsurugi’s altered phone down on the folding table. Mikuni pressed the buttons on the washer to begin the cycle on his and Tsurugi’s clothes. Padding his way back to the bed to rest, Mikuni made a small grimace at the covers. He’d likely need to wash the sheets next but that could wait until they were both awake. Mikuni was exhausted, having over exerted himself in fucking Tsurugi senseless as well as staying awake long enough to put his plan in motion. Never mind being woken up at butt fuck in the morning to deal with the needy 26-year-old in the first place. With a tired yawn Mikuni brought himself under the covers and lay his head down. His sheets felt disgusting but there was nothing to do about it right now. Just deal with it Mikuni…

With a final yawn and stretch of his legs, Mikuni let his eyelids close staring at Tsurugi’s flushed, sleeping face while he too nodded off.

 

* * *

 

With the call between them completed, Junichirou placed his cell back into his pocket with a sigh. Before he could even say anything however, Yumikage beat him to the punch. Unsurprising…

“I don’t like this.”

“I don’t either but we agreed to it so we better do it,” Junichirou responded and began making his way back to C3 with Yumikage following.

“What I mean is I don’t like _him_ doing this,” Yumikage felt a need to point out, “You know he’s not doing this for anyone’s sake but his own and he’ll use that gullible idiot just like Touma-san does to get what he wants.”

“It’s the only chance Tsukimitsu… not just for Tsurugi but for us as well. We’ve wanted Tsurugi out of there for years but have never had a means to get him out.”

“Why does it have to be through _HIM_ though?!” Yumikage retorted, clenching his fists tightly again. He was pissed with all of this, “DAMNIT. WHY THE HELL IS TSURUGI ALWAYS GETTING MIXED UP WITH THESE KIND OF PEOPLE?! HE DOESN’T DESERVE THIS SHIT.”

Junichirou turned to look back at Yumikage who was angrily staring at the ground while digging his heel into it. There was really nothing Junichirou could offer to say as he felt the same way. It wasn’t fair. Since they had known each other, Tsurugi had always been mixed up with a bad crowd. In the beginning when he’d come to school, every day Tsurugi never talked to anyone and always had scratches or bandages somewhere on him. Yumikage had thought he was a freak at first but Junichirou felt sorry for the lonely boy that sat in front and reached his hand out. No one should ever go through life alone.

From there the days of the trio began. They would play together and have sleep overs. They would study together after cram school. Or rather, Junichirou would try to help tutor them while Tsurugi made paper airplanes out of his notebook paper and Yumikage would get frustrated at his homework and threaten to throw it out the window.

Junichirou couldn’t help but smile fondly remembering back on those days. If only life between them had stayed that simple.

 

* * *

 

“You…bought me?” Tsurugi repeated back in a surprised state. Something about this all seemed too far-fetched to be real. Mikuni would never do something like that… would he?

“Is that so hard to believe?” Mikuni replied.

At that, Tsurugi couldn’t help but chuckle in return and gently lowered himself back to the floor. Standing was a bit too painful to continue with at the moment and he really didn’t feel like showing off his dripping ass if they were going to continue talking. Surprisingly enough, it seemed Tsurugi wasn’t completely void of self-respect as he so claimed to be. Something Mikuni took note of…

“You’d never buy me. You can’t afford me Kuni-chan~!” Tsurugi teased him, putting aside the fact the two didn’t exactly get on swimmingly.

“Do you really believe that?” Mikuni returned his gaze up to the ceiling before closing his eyes, “I used to pay you a lot when we were partners. We’ve been apart for 3 years now and I’ve grown a lot since then. Touma doesn’t pay you as much as you like to boast. That’s why you’re always broke.”

The conversation was getting less fun between them by the minute now. Tsurugi could start to feel something akin to the apprehension from last night building in the pit of his stomach. There was no way Mikuni would’ve bought him from Touma, there was just no way.

“Why would you buy me?” he spoke more seriously between them. His eyes had narrowed some; carefully watching Mikuni’s reactions.

As expected of Tsurugi. The hound was on him in quick work to sniff out any lies and false pretence. Luckily for Mikuni, he had been given plenty of time to prepare and kept his posture calm. He answered without missing a beat; not too hastily and not with too much time in-between. Every second, tone, and word counted right now.

“Because you asked me to.”

“What do you mean?” Tsurugi didn’t recall ever asking something like that out of Mikuni. Hell… he’d never even asked it of Touma. It just… _happened_.

“When we were having sex I asked you to be mine and only mine. You took a little convincing but eventually you agreed. I couldn’t very well have you agree and then not follow through.”

Tsurugi’s mind flashed back quickly to when they had both been slotted together. Heated flesh on one another, Mikuni had been curled over him, gasping in his ear for Tsurugi to call his name.

 _‘Call my name_ _… Be mine and mine only. Call for me_ _… Tsurugi._ _’_

Tsurugi’s eyes widened as a redness crept onto his cheeks. For once the talkative hound found himself silenced by his own actions. Had that really been some sort of contract between them? No, no that was just heated talk. They had both been driven mad with lust and were riding high on adrenaline. Mikuni couldn’t seriously think that he’d meant it!

“That was just—!“

“Just talk?” Mikuni finished for him, looking back over at Tsurugi. His expression had gone cold again.

Something about that amber gaze so void of emotion other than a darkened malice chilled Tsurugi to the bone. He couldn’t face Mikuni when the other looked at him like that. It had been different in the beginning when the two were just getting to know each other. Both males had kept their hearts and true selves at bay. They wore masks together each time they sat down to dinner, when they went to bed, when they went on missions. It was only in the flash of a moment when one had stepped outside of their boundaries did those masks finally shatter between them. After that no matter how tightly they tied on a smiling face for the world to believe in, they could see each other’s true self behind it. They never spoke of it; never admitted it, but they could see it plain as day between each other.

This fact held true even now as Mikuni’s piercing look broke right past any barriers of defence Tsurugi held up and plunged into his soul. A direct hit to the heart; it made the organ run cold and chill his chest in a stinging pain. Tsurugi didn’t mean for it to turn out like this between them afterwards. However, one thing bothered him still… Why did Mikuni believe such heated words were honest? People said all sorts of crazy things when driven mad by their lust. One could look back at their soiled moments of passion and turn red at the recollection of profanities they uttered in their hazy state. Nothing one said in the heat of such intimate moments should ever be believed. Did Mikuni still think like a child and believe such things not to be true?

Tsurugi decided to use this knowledge and flip things back on Mikuni.

“Come on,” he chuckled, “You couldn’t have possibly meant all those things you said too. You hate me right?”

“I meant every word I said,” Mikuni reflected back, “I meant for you to show me how much you wanted me. I asked for you to call my name and be mine—and I meant it. I’ve meant that since we separated back at C3. I’ve wanted you to leave Touma for years but you refused to do it yourself. So I offered the chance to step in and do it for you if you were willing. I wouldn’t have done it if you didn’t call my name and you did.”

Tsurugi sat in silence taking in everything between them. There was just… there was no way. There couldn’t have been a way. Mikuni never once hinted at doing anything like this. It had to be a mistake—a lie, something—anything but honesty. This couldn’t be the truth…

The 26-year-old stared down at his hands now free from the straps that had bound his wrists for years. It felt like shackles had been removed from them. Yet, at the same time it wasn’t a real freedom. He belonged to Mikuni Alicein now. Tsurugi had no idea how long the lead was the other would put him on in comparison to Touma. He didn’t know how Mikuni would treat him or what he would expect. There had to be something to this that Mikuni wanted out of him. No one was generous enough to just… free somebody from slavery—especially not with such a high price tag. What did Mikuni want with him? There had to be something to this. Make sense Mikuni! ‘ _What is it you want?!_ _’_

“…What do you want with me?” Tsurugi finally muttered. He did not lift his head to view Mikuni but instead only continued staring at his open palms.

Mikuni watched the other with a heightened interest. Admittedly, he didn’t know what to expect when he told Tsurugi that he’d been purchased by the 23-year-old. He supposed this sort of response wasn’t out of the realm of expectation, but such a defeated air unnerved the Alicein and he sought to correct it.

The blonde rolled himself over onto his stomach by Tsurugi and sat up to view him more closely.

“Hey,” he spoke softly. Extending a hand, he tilted Tsurugi’s chin up to guide the other to face him while Mikuni in turn lowered his to meet the other halfway in a shared gaze.

Tsurugi’s gaze that met Mikuni’s sent a chill down his spine. Yellow orbs always so lost in the world yet wildly fascinated by it regarded him with a sheer terror reflecting in the coloured fragments. Tsurugi couldn’t tell, but he was trembling just slightly in Mikuni’s hand. Without knowing the consequence of his own actions Tsurugi had catapulted himself into a whole new world through a moment of ill-conceived passion. The reality of the situation crashing down on him was terrifying. What would Mikuni do with him? What did he want? How would Touma react? Would he be mad? Would he come after Mikuni? Would Mikuni kill him now that he owned him? Would he be forced to kill Touma? What should he do?!

Mikuni could see the questions bubbling behind Tsurugi’s gaze and the panic arising as the other shook more in his hold. This certainly was the social experiment… though Mikuni couldn’t say at the moment he found it at all enjoyable.

 _‘You_ _’re so broken_ _… you miserable thing. You don_ _’t even know what to do with yourself_ _…’_

Mikuni raised another hand and cupped Tsurugi’s head in his palms. He rested his forehead against the other’s calmly and kept his eyes on Tsurugi.

“Calm down for a minute ok?” he tried to reach through to the man hiding behind the wall of panic and disorder, “Do you remember what I said when you called out my name?”

Tsurugi tried to see through his own haze of questions and recall what Mikuni had said when they were together. To be honest, the C3 member… or rather ex-member now, barely recalled even saying Mikuni’s name at the time. Shamefully, he shook his head in a negative response.

Mikuni exhaled softly with a look that whispered some sense of pity and admiration for the other. He closed his eyes then, brushing his thumb against Tsurugi’s cheek with a small smile.

“ _‘_ _I got you_ _’_. That means that I’m here for you and you don’t need to be scared with me.”

“Promise?” Tsurugi shot back almost instantly with a tone that prompted enough panic for Mikuni to open his eyes in surprise at the other.

Amber eyes flickered back up to meet gold. Desperately, they pleaded for some sort of lifeline to cling to. No matter how dangerous or disgusting that lifeline would’ve been they needed something. Mikuni could beat the shit out of him for all Tsurugi cared right now—he just needed something stable after having the world he knew ripped violently out from under him. Anything stable… _please._

 _‘Just give me something to hold onto and I_ _’ll grab it!_ _’_

Mikuni felt his words catch in his throat a moment seeing the other look before him with such a desperate gaze. He didn’t know why it was that the look bothered him so deeply when he’d seen just as desperate gazes many times before. He could recall countless subclasses pleading at him for their lives before killing them and never once had it fazed him. Why now with _this person_ did it rattle him so deeply? Was it because Tsurugi was human? Even if he was a grovelling piece of shit with no sense of self—a broken tool, Mikuni felt compelled by those begging eyes.

Regardless if Mikuni hadn’t felt this way about Tsurugi’s desperation, it wouldn’t have changed the answer that left his mouth. However, something about that moment bothered him deeply and he did his best to quickly shake it off. It was too late to feel his humanity again. Mikuni had begun chipping away at it years ago and with each kill he committed, just like Tsurugi, he fell further and further away from it all. Perhaps Tsurugi wasn’t the only one broken…

 _‘Hmph_ _… as if._ _’_

There was no way Mikuni was _that_ messed up.

“I promise,” he replied.

No sooner had he uttered those words did Mikuni find himself with a pair of arms suddenly thrown around him and Tsurugi clinging to his frame. Mikuni didn’t catch the opportunity to see the look on Tsurugi’s face as the other threw himself onto the 23-year-old. Yet, he could imagine it judging by the tears he felt dripping onto his shoulder that is to say…

Mikuni sat still for a moment as Tsurugi clung to him before slowly wrapping his arms around the other in return and gently rubbed his back. He could feel the patches of rough skin from Tsurugi’s scars and for a second let his mind wander on them. How long had Tsurugi had some of these scars? Ones not given to him during their time together… Where had they come from? Were they from work alone or something else even more repulsive? Someday… he figured, he may just ask about it.

For a while the pair sat together with bare bodies clinging to each other while Tsurugi let his worries seep out from his eyes. Mikuni’s hand on his back felt amazing… but then again it only seemed to prompt more tears from him. Tsurugi found himself occasionally clinging tighter to the man that had hopefully rescued him from a world far too painful to speak of. This of course remained to be seen if that was truly the case yet the former hound of C3 was hopeful. As much as Mikuni detested him, he didn’t purely hate Tsurugi. Likewise, Tsurugi harboured little malicious intent towards Mikuni. They had known why they had separated after all—or so they believed within themselves.

The moment was only ended when the sound of a vibration echoed in the quiet room. Both men took a step back from their shared moment and regarded the world around them again.

_Masks on boys._

Tsurugi did his best to don his own but it was only half there. It had cracked horribly in the conversation between himself and Mikuni. Now pieces of the otherwise emotionless mask lay scattered on the floor around him. Only a fraction of it rested on Tsurugi’s face covering a part of his mouth and eye. Mikuni’s meanwhile appeared fully intact without a hint of fault as he stood to answer his cell. However, if one would’ve examined closely they may have caught a glimpse of a small fracture along the seam line near his chin.

Mikuni strolled over to his kitchen table, picking up his phone and answering the call.

“Hello~” he answered in his usual chipper tone, “This is him.”

As Mikuni began his conversation on the phone Tsurugi looked around where he sat for something he too could do in order to busy himself with. He noticed all the books on the shelves and wondered again just how many Mikuni had collected over the years from when he’d been at C3. Out of his ear he could hear Mikuni beginning to talk business on the phone. Mikuni smiled his usual with a happy chuckle occasionally thrown in throughout the conversation. It was a pleasant side of him and one Tsurugi could listen to for hours and find himself completely content in the world.

Cautiously raising himself up again from where he’d collapsed onto his knees, Tsurugi attempted to try and walk around again. He didn’t plan to go far as the apartment Mikuni lived in really wasn’t that big, but he hadn’t gotten to see much of it really. He’d arrived in the dead of night almost so much of the room had been cast in a low light. Now with the sunlight filling the room he could make out many of the details more clearly.

Mikuni, who was busily talking with one of his vendors on the phone, looked over to Tsurugi. Having caught the other’s movement out of the corner of his eye, the Alicein watched to see where the other was going. Perhaps he had been watching a bit too intently as he missed an important bit of information on the phone and was forced to redirect his attention back to it.

“Yes—yes, sorry I’m here. Go ahead. You said you needed how many cases?”

 Tsurugi kept his hand against the wall as he walked along it, taking a moment to view around the apartment. As he walked back further in the hall he could see the small bathroom to his right. It had a shower unit that was in a western style. Tsurugi felt himself fascinated by it and eyed it with interest. If Mikuni could afford an apartment with a western style bathroom he must have been doing well. To his left was the linen closet. Inside it were various towels and blankets. There was a folded up comforter that looked like it was likely used for a kotatsu. Mikuni must’ve had the rest of it in his storage unit for the apartment. There were also cleaning supplies and what looked to be a small heating pad. Judging by its size and make, it was probably for Jeje to curl up on in the winter to stay warm. Tsurugi smiled to himself finding the trinket rather endearing.

“Tsurugi.”

The raven hair turned his head, hearing his name called by Mikuni.

“I’ve got to run down to my shop for a bit to fill an order, Johannes isn’t there today or I’d have him do it. Why don’t you take a shower and get yourself cleaned up? When I get back we can go shopping together and get you some new clothes.”

Heavens know Mikuni wouldn’t be able to remain sane if he had to see Tsurugi wearing his old jacket every fucking day. It was bad enough seeing the other in it the previous night at the train station. Why was it people had this uncanny habit to bring things up from his past he’d really rather not recall?

“You’ll be alright by yourself?” Mikuni walked over, heading to one of the cabinets that had drawers attached to it. Inside it lay Mikuni’s clothes from which he pulled out a pair of underwear, shirt, slacks, and socks. He looked up to Tsurugi for an answer as he began sliding on his underwear and slacks.

“Yah… I’ll be fine,” Tsurugi nodded, watching the other dress.

The somewhat subdued tone set Mikuni on edge and he furrowed his brows with concern for the other. Taking a moment to put his shirt on he then strode away from Tsurugi for a second, heading into the washroom. Tsurugi’s clothes still had another 10 minutes left. Good. Mikuni grabbed Tsurugi’s cell phone from the room and walked back to his counterpart, handing the device off to him.

“I’m just a few blocks away. You’ve got my number. Call me if you need me alright? I won’t be longer than 20 minutes. It’s just a real quick in and out,” Mikuni spoke to Tsurugi like a parent might their child. It was the best way to handle Tsurugi from what the blonde could tell right now. He set his hand on Tsurugi’s shoulder for extra reassurance and leaned over to place a chaste kiss on his cheek. That should hopefully be enough to keep Tsurugi complacent. It was a risk leaving him alone so soon but Mikuni really had little choice in the matter with Johannes being out. He couldn’t very well have Tsurugi go with given the other’s current state of being. That would’ve just been… awkward.

Tsurugi looked at the phone in his hands a brief moment before looking up to Mikuni who was putting on his usual jewellery now. Tsurugi wanted to go with and was tempted to ask to. Unfortunately, the other moved away before he could. Mikuni grabbed his vest and scarf from the entryway and slipped them on with ease. Jeje slithered right past Tsurugi having come out from god knows where he’d been hiding and made his way right up his master’s extended arm. The serpent coiled around Mikuni’s neck as the man bent down to put his boots on. Just as Mikuni was about to head out the door Tsurugi finally found the nerve to call after him.

“Kuni-chan!” Tsurugi clutched desperately to his phone while standing alone in the hallway.

Mikuni turned back around to Tsurugi, his hand hovering above the doorknob.

“…Will you…Will you make those pancakes you promised?”

Mikuni reacted like a boulder had practically been dropped on him and damn near collapsed to the ground at the sheer stupidity of Tsurugi’s words.

“You don’t remember calling my name or that I said I would be there for you, but you remember my stupid comment about making pancakes in the morning?!”

 **_Unbelievable_ ** **_…_ **

Tsurugi could only laugh apologetically in the hallway seeming more like his old self in that instance. As infuriating as the Tsurugi’s on and off memory could be, the change in atmosphere was enough to give Mikuni a bit of confidence in leaving Tsurugi alone for a little. If Tsurugi was acting as he normally did it was less likely he would run off. Knowing that, Mikuni offered a somewhat agitated smile while trying his best to not let the irritation of Tsurugi’s comment get to him.

“I’ll stop by the convenience store and pick some up on the way back as long as you don’t destroy my apartment while I’m gone, got it?” he grumbled through the forced smile and clenched teeth.

Yah… Tsurugi was definitely back to normal. The same… irritatingly, hair pulling normal that sent Mikuni mad.

“Got it~!” Tsurugi held up a hand in salute to Mikuni with a beaming smile. He held that smile until the door clicked behind Mikuni’s departure and his footsteps had gone far enough away that they could no longer be heard.

Not a second later after Mikuni could no longer be heard did Tsurugi collapse back onto his knees with a grimace of pain, holding a hand to his lower back.

“Ow ow ow ow… Haaah… You’re really too rough these days Kuni-chan…” he whispered under his breath at the stinging pain in his ass. He’d ignored it when they’d been talking before, but as he’d begun moving around the apartment, Tsurugi was made all too aware of just how hard Mikuni had fucked him earlier that morning. He was lucky if he’d be able to go shopping at all to get new clothing at this rate.

“If I’m going to be shopping with Kuni-chan…” Tsurugi felt his cheeks redden, knowing what he’d have to do. There was no way around it really. With a small hiss of pain, Tsurugi pushed himself back onto his feet and made his way to the bathroom. While he’d thought the western style had been cool before, the former Ace was dearly wishing for something more familiar with a stool at the moment to make things easier.

The raven hair reached his hand into the shower, turning the dial to a warmth just under scalding. Tsurugi didn’t take long showers typically so using extra heat was fine—or so he assumed. With the water heated enough in a few seconds the man stepped into the shower, feeling rather awkward doing so without having washed himself first. How did Mikuni get used to bathing like this?

Tsurugi took the bar of soap available and began scrubbing away on his body. He started from the top knowing he’d be needing considerable more time to soak his lower half. Tsurugi washed over his arms and along his chest. Over his shoulders and around his back he travelled all the way down until he reached his navel. That’s… about where the real mess started. Tsurugi had asked to be painted in white and painted he was. Having fallen asleep on his own ejaculation didn’t really helped him any and had even left sinful trails all the way up to his collarbone if he were perfectly honest with his appearance. The thought alone of having looked that way only moments ago was enough to baffle his senses into a flustered heat.

The warm water was a big help of course and most of the mess that had dried on his skin was cleaned off easily from it. Tsurugi moved lower on himself, having to part his legs to get some of the more stubborn mess out. Some of Mikuni’s load had managed to leak down between his legs from Tsurugi moving around which had been quite the awkward feeling. What was more awkward still was that when spreading his legs wide enough to clean between them, Tsurugi watched a long strand of slightly dried cum fall out from inside of him.

Catching the sight, Tsurugi quickly threw his head back up feeling heat rush to it. He couldn’t risk something even more embarrassing happening on top of that sight and pinched his nose shut to be safe. Naturally it wouldn’t help, but it was really a mind over matter sort of thing at the moment. Tsurugi waited and waited with the shower water beating against him for his mind and body to calm down. This wasn’t Tsurugi’s first time being an unsightly mess and there were times he’d definitely been marked up worse. However, this was Mikuni and that thought was enough to rev his sex drive right back to full throttle again. To make matters worse, this was Mikuni after 3 years of not having touched each other at all. Now Tsurugi found himself so full of his ex-partner that his body was unable to even contain it all. That thought alone was enough to send his mind spinning, and Tsurugi carefully leaned himself back against the wall for support.

Almost certainly his eyes had to be dilated and cheeks flushed more vividly than what the heat of the shower could’ve provided for him. As sore as he was had Mikuni still been in the apartment Tsurugi might have been tempted enough to ask for more. Ok maybe not… he was pretty sore, but a hand job at least or any touch at all probably would’ve sated him. Speaking of touch though… It was now or never really. As titillating as the thought of keeping Mikuni’s essence inside of him was, Tsurugi would be in a considerable world of pain if he didn’t clean the other out of himself.

It was then with a heavy reluctance on the side of himself fuelled by lust that Tsurugi lowered himself to the floor of the shower slowly. This is why he would’ve preferred a stool but it couldn’t be helped. Keeping his head tilted up, Tsurugi angled himself with his heels pressed against the shower wall. He jutted his hips forward. Leaning his ass up and snaked a hand down in between his legs.

 _1_ _… 2_ _… **3**_ **_—!_ **

Tsurugi pushed his middle and ring finger into his sore hole and gasped at the contact. Already he could feel the sticky sensation inside of himself and bit back any further sound his body was tempted to make. Fingers and toes curled together as Tsurugi retracted the digits and scooped the first bits of Mikuni’s load from inside of himself.

In retrospect of his following actions, Tsurugi really shouldn’t have looked at his fingers. Unfortunately, curiosity tempted him enough to anyways—as it always did. The sight was brief but he could see the clotting sticky mess of white and clear fluids on his fingers before the water washed it away and down towards the drain beneath him. Tsurugi could feel a guilty sadness nip at inside him with the loss but knew that was all brought about by lust grabbing at his heals once again.

Tsurugi brought his fingers back down again and plunged inside. The second time had been less painful than the first and Tsurugi found himself more able to control his body’s reactions. He still flinched however, and the added pressure of his fingers digging around inside of him was enough to spur on a few muffled sounds. He took his time cleaning himself out. Over and over Tsurugi plunged in and curled his fingers, digging out his foreign inhabitant. By the time he was feeling pretty clean Tsurugi was panting and found himself half-hard from the process. Again… to be expected.

“…Kuni-chan…” he breathed, allowing his body to rest for a moment.

The former C3 member lay in the shower for a while, trying to ignore his need and let the warm water do him in. His ass ached as did his stomach from the position but that was hardly his primary concern with his libido practically banging against his half hard member for attention. Tsurugi’s lower back was no better than his aching ass and it was at that time he decided it’d be best to get back onto his feet and wrap up here. He could always lay down on the bed again and try to relax until Mikuni got home. Hopefully Tsurugi hadn’t wasted all of his time here in the shower or things would get even more awkward.

When Tsurugi raised himself up he was surprised to find just how wobbly his legs had become in that time. He braced himself for support with his hands against the wall of the shower, and… much to his annoyance, still felt a bit of Mikuni lingering inside of him.

“You’ve got to be fucking _kidding me_ ,” he panted. Mikuni wasn’t even that large! How in the hell!?

With a puff of his cheeks, Tsurugi braced himself one last time and spread his legs again. This was the last goddamn time he swore or Mikuni would be digging him out at this rate. With one hand braced to the wall for support the other reached back and pried his cheeks open wide as he could manage himself. It stung worse than the first time he’d plunged his hand in since he was actively pulling the outer skin still raw from earlier, but the added widening would hopefully help in removing this last stubborn bit from inside. Using his middle finger to shovel it out, Tsurugi reached as deep as he could inside of himself feeling around for that last bit and trying to help it out.

“Gnah--!” he gasped aloud into the shower, feeling his length twitch and swell with more of his arousal, “ _Come on damnit_ _…!_ ” He seethed, trying to move himself up or down enough that he could finally reach it.

With enough persistence, Tsurugi finally managed to feel the last bit of Mikuni’s release leave him and felt a smug sense of satisfaction wash over in response. Even if he was half aroused that was quickly becoming outweighed by his own pride in having one-uped his ex-partner… in a matter of speaking. Tsurugi slowly pulled his finger out from inside and began straightening up again. As he managed to just get his finger out however, the hand that had so lovingly been supporting him slipped against the shower wall. His knees buckled and in a split second Tsurugi lost control of his body as it toppled down with a sharp scream.

 

* * *

 

Well that had certainly taken longer than anticipated. Mikuni sighed with relief while shutting his computer down for the day now that the shipment was taken care of. Why the hell did Johannes use an order system so complicated? None of the buttons explained what function they did, you went to print and invoice and ended up printing a packing slip, and you had to open up another program entirely for checking inventory. For a moment Mikuni had debated simply going in the back and counting the damn cases himself rather than rely on the system to do it.

Alas, it was all done now and his customer had been taken care of. All that remained was picking up their breakfast—or rather lunch by now and returning home. Mikuni leaned back in his chair a moment looking up at the clock on the wall. He didn’t really care much to the time it displayed but he’d watch the second hand tick away to give himself a few minutes’ peace. From last night until now the poor man had been having a rather eventful and hectic day. Finding it as a good time to speak his own mind, Jeje slipped down from around Mikuni’s neck and took human form from the shadows.

Since last night, Jeje had also formed a number of questions about everything that had transpired. He’d held his tongue until now as this was the first chance Mikuni and Tsurugi had really been apart. It was strange to be sure, considering how little time they’d tried to spend around each other before.

“I know what you’re going to say,” Mikuni spoke before Jeje could even start. The taller man stood back and listened once again.

“As annoying as he is there is value to him. He’s an obstacle as he is under that man’s supervision. I could try to kill him myself, but I’d be stopped before I could get anywhere. He never leaves C3 so my only option would be to do it there and weakened as they are I can’t take on that many fighters at once—even with your help. Tsurugi’s key to their functions, without him the organization will inevitably collapse on itself and I can move freely again. I’m sure even you’re thrilled about that. I’ve gathered most of the information there I need anyways. Anything else I’m sure Tsurugi has knowledge of and just isn’t telling me. He’s smarter than he lets on.”

“…Do you think it will succeed?” Jeje asked.

“As long as I play my cards right, he won’t be any the wiser to it,” Mikuni leaned forward. Pushing himself up from the chair, he turned himself to face Jeje proper and fixed his hat in place, “He gets his ‘freedom’ and I get C3’s most powerful pawn and eliminate a road block in my way. As far as I’m concerned the only one losing is my enemy.”

With that said Mikuni made his way towards the door to head out of the shop. He still needed to pick up their food after all and Tsurugi would be expecting him back by now. Jeje remained by the desk. Another thought tempted him to speak.

“Mikuni…” he mumbled lowly.

The Eve looked back to his Servamp at the doorway.

“…Your thirst for power… will become your undoing.”

Mikuni simply smiled in response, feeling something darker clawing at his heals. His undoing? _Hardly._ This man wasn’t his mother… He could control Envy better than she had. He could control any Servamp because he had knowledge and knowledge was key. Mikuni bared his pearly whites with a predator-like grin a moment before holding out his hand to the other.

“Come,” he ordered and Jeje silently obeyed.

The human form dissipated and in its place a black snake with a cross pattern on its head, slithered along the ground. It made its way up Mikuni’s leg to curl back into his yellow scarf. Mikuni refused to call his scarf a colour so plain but to Jeje it didn’t really matter. The texture of the fabric was smooth and comfortable for him. It retained heat well and blocked out noise when Jeje felt the need to bury his head inside the accessory. That was a good thing too, considering how excitable Mikuni could get.

With Servamp in tow, Mikuni exited the shop and headed towards the convenience store on the way home. He was pretty sure it had a bakery, so he’d find some premade pancakes that had been cooked earlier that morning and pick them up to eat at home. It shouldn’t take him more than a few minutes to shop. He hoped in that time Tsurugi wouldn’t get himself all worked up and panic, but if he did, Mikuni would deal with it at that time.

Stepping into the shop, Mikuni headed straight for the bakery and located the food in question. Picking up the packet of premade pancakes a thought crossed his mind. Given that he was already a little late, surprising Tsurugi with an unexpected treat might help calm any waters that would’ve otherwise been disturbed.

“What do you think Jeje? Should we just go with plain or you think we should pick up a carton of strawberries?” Mikuni himself wasn’t a huge fan of the fruit but he knew Tsurugi adored them. The snake around his neck offered little advice in Mikuni’s decision and seemed to be more intrigued in finding out what his master would pick.

Mikuni debated on it a moment before heading over to the produce area to pick up a small carton of strawberries. No sooner had he made it over did his phone start ringing. Mikuni had turned the volume on while he was out, knowing he’d miss a call with his phone in silent mode due to all the hustle and bustle of the city. Quickly scanning the caller ID he saw it was Tsurugi and picked up.

“Hey, I’m almost home. I’m just at the convenience store getting our pancakes. I shouldn’t be more than a few minutes now.”

“Kuni-chan… I fell down.”

Mikuni furrowed his eyebrows trying to understand, “Fell down? What do you mean you fell down?” he tried to gain more clarification while picking up the strawberries in his other hand currently holding the pancakes to be purchased.

“I was… taking a shower… and I fell down,” Tsurugi spoke slowly on the other end, “…There’s blood…”

Mikuni felt his entire body go cold in an instant and dropped his shopping. Thankfully, the items in his hand fell only a few mere centimetres back onto the produce he’d plucked the strawberries from, as he had no time to deal with a mess being made on the floor. The man bolted from the convenience store and raced down the street at top speed while side stepping over people and pushing past anyone too foolish to stand in his way.

“I’m coming! Stay conscious you hear me?! You didn’t black out or throw up did you?” Never mind that Mikuni felt like he was about to with such a gut-level fear growing inside of him. Killing subclass was one thing, but seeing death was another. Bodies of humans didn’t just simply evaporate into dust like a vampire’s. They remained and they rotted.

“No… I haven’t…” Tsurugi’s voice was getting softer; a sound that flashed Mikuni’s mind back to a scene far more bloody. He prayed… _he prayed_ to any deity who would listen that he wouldn’t see a bloodbath like that again.

“STAY CONSCIOUS!!” he screamed into his phone.

Mikuni could feel his heart about to burst from his chest with how hard he was running. Street signs be damned, cars be damned, he needed to get home _now_. The minute Mikuni arrived at his apartment complex he frantically felt for the keys in his pocket. He’d never cursed so violently about them as he did in that moment, wishing dearly he could just order Jeje to shoot the door down instead. With the key in the lock, Mikuni ripped it to the side and swung the door open.

“Jeje! Keys!” he ordered his Servamp to retrieve them since the keys to his actual apartment were attached to the same set.

The snake around Mikuni’s neck sprung off him and grabbed the keys in its mouth from the door. Jeje slithered quickly back up after his master who was sprinting up the stairs two at a time. Mikuni had absolutely no time to be fucking with an elevator and living only 3 stories up he really didn’t need to thankfully. Reaching the door to his apartment, Mikuni threw out his hand for his keys which Jeje slithered up his body and deposited them into his Eve’s hand. Mikuni unlocked the door and threw it open, preparing himself for whatever might await him inside.

In the middle of the living room sat Tsurugi with his hand holding his left arm. He looked up in Mikuni’s direction having heard the other coming before the door was thrown open. His chin was scraped up and bleeding down his neck. His nose likewise, was just as bloodied. In addition, Tsurugi’s left shoulder also looked red and swollen.

Shoes being ignored at the time, Mikuni ran right into the room where Tsurugi was and took hold of him looking the other man over in a hurried panic.

“How is your vision? Are you dizzy? Do you know what you hit when you fell?”

Tsurugi shook his head negatively to answer most of Mikuni’s questions, “Vision’s ok. ‘m not dizzy…just shaken up.”

Mikuni took a moment to look over Tsurugi’s head to make sure nothing hurt when he touched it, or that it was bleeding anywhere beyond what was visible. Being fresh out of the shower the water was likely making the bleeding look worse than it was but fuck if Mikuni cared right now. Hell he didn’t even notice that the shower was still going. With no visible signs of trauma to Tsurugi’s head he proceeded on with his questions.

“Did you call an ambulance?”

Tsurugi shook his head negatively again.

Mikuni felt something snap inside of him at that, “You idiot! Why didn’t you call an ambulance first?!”

“My phone wasn’t working when I tried to call out… so I tried you.”

Mikuni froze again and felt the world pause in that instance. A move he had taken specifically to ensure that Tsurugi stayed safe and away from Touma’s hands had also been the same action that could’ve killed him just now. It wouldn’t have been his first time killing a human so it shouldn’t have bothered Mikuni as deeply as it did. Perhaps it was because it would’ve been a murder he hadn’t intended but knew undeniably he would’ve been directly responsible for. Mikuni had only a short while ago, thought himself the wisest man in the world and had felt proud about his cunning action to dismantle the phone. Now that same smug voice playing back in his mind made his blood run cold. The Alicein felt his stomach churn and thought he might be sick at that moment were it not for Tsurugi’s voice calling out to him.

“I’m sorry.”

Mikuni focused his gaze again, seeing Tsurugi smiling at him apologetically. Even bloodied up like something out of a horror movie, Tsurugi still smiled believing it was his own error in all of this. For the first time in his life Mikuni didn’t know how to respond. Why was Tsurugi the one apologizing? It hadn’t been him… yet he some reason felt compelled to do so anyways. Tentatively, still unsure of his actions, Mikuni reached a hand forward and brushed aside some of the blood awash on Tsurugi’s lips. He then planted his own on them a second later. Mikuni didn’t know what words to say… and about half the ones he wanted to express he couldn’t.

Tsurugi was surprised by the action from Mikuni but it made him smile and relax knowing that the other at the very least wasn’t mad at him.

“…We’ll get you a new phone,” Mikuni spoke softly as they parted, “But let’s get you cleaned up and looked at by a doctor first.”

“Ok.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> { On this episode of: My Sex Life Sent Me to the ER… }


	3. Chapter 3

“Do you recall when Mikuni said Tsurugi arrived at his apartment last night?” Junichirou called over his shoulder to Yumikage. The blonde himself leaned against the door to the surveillance room with a heavy glower set on his face. Since they’d spoken on the phone, Yumikage had remained in a rotten mood. Junichirou could hardly blame him for it, but they needed to cooperate here or they would also be at Touma’s mercy for their involvement—however slight it was.

“The hell if I would know. Like I’m going to pay attention to anything that _bastard_ says!” Yumikage spat back, helpful as ever. Gods… he needed a fucking drink after this.

Junichirou sighed with defeat and turned his head back to the monitors. It had taken some time to get into the surveillance room, but they’d managed after a talk with Tinker and Tsuyuki—who ironically was scheduled for surveillance duty that day. It was originally Tinker’s turn to view surveillance, but Shuuhei—predictably, had lost a wager against her and now had taken over the job. It was probably for the best as well, considering when Junichirou and Yumikage had arrived Shuuhei had a set of latex gloves on hand and a data transfer cable along with an external drive. Always prepared that one. The conversation amongst the four had been something to behold.

 

* * *

 

“Wait so Kamiya-kun’s old partner used to be his lover?” Tinker asked in surprise.

“I wouldn’t jump right to lover… but they were close intimately, yes,” Junichirou tried to straighten out any misconceptions, but it didn’t appear to be working as Tinker’s eyes literally sparkled like something out of a manga. A slight flush hit her cheeks that were then immediately covered by her hands.

“That’s so romantic…!”

“Che…” Yumikage clicked his tongue in annoyance at the old memories surfacing. He cast his head away, digging the ball of his foot against the tile floor.

“It was… probably the happiest I saw him in some time,” Junichirou somewhat more nervously continued with a small smile. He knew Tinker tended to get overexcited with things easily, but this usually involved things like engineering and mechanics—not someone’s personal life.

“So did they— _y’know_ ~?” Tinker pushed further for detail.

Her hands slipped from her face and index fingers pressed together innocently, though her excitable tone suggested anything but. Its invasive almost obsessive infliction had Junichirou nervously scratching the back of his head wondering just how in the world he was supposed to answer such a question. Tinker didn’t seem at all abashed in response and leaned forward more with a wide smile and those same sparkling eyes that practically _begged_ for juicy details.

“NO ONE NEEDS TO KNOW ANYTHING LIKE THAT,” Shuuhei interjected thankfully. Junichirou felt a pressure lift from him and Tinker woefully sank back into her chair with a pout.

“Teriyaki always runs my fun,” she grumbled and swiveled in her chair some.

“It’s _Tsuyuki_ ,” Shuuhei corrected her with an annoyed grumble, “Details like that are unnecessary in this matter so it’s best to leave them unknown.”

“Says you…”

“Says me indeed,” Shuuhei adjusted his glasses before resuming his focus back on Yumikage and Junichirou, “If I understand correctly then to wave off any suspicion we’re supposed to act as if this ‘purchase’ is in full effect if Kamiya-kun reaches out to us.”

“That’s correct,” Junichirou nodded, feeling a lot more at ease with the conversation getting back on track.

“You should have told me about this before deciding anything. C3 is in jeopardy enough as it is. We can’t afford to lose Kamiya-kun right now. It’s a huge loss in power for us and our situation is dire enough as it is. I don’t agree to this.”

“Agree or not it’s already in effect,” Junichirou responded calmly. He knew exactly where Shuuhei stood with regard to all that was occurring within C3 at the moment, and to be honest he didn’t blame Shuuhei one bit for it. However, there was a lot the 22-year-old didn’t know, especially with regards to the relation between Tsurugi and the vice branch manager, “If you don’t cooperate not only will Tsurugi be in jeopardy, but Tsukimitsu and myself as well. Can you really afford to lose all three of us?”

“We can’t afford to lose a single one of you. Call him back,” Shuuhei grunted.

“That’s not possible,” Junichirou shook his head.

“Why not? Nothing’s started yet. He can return here and it will be like nothing ever happened.”

“It won’t. There’s already footage of him leaving C3. If Touma sees it, Tsurugi will be confronted.”

“What’s wrong with that? He disobeyed, he deserves to be told off for going against protocol. Especially in times like this. We need him here.”

“It’s not as simple as being told off.”

“What do you mean?”

“That’s…”

“--It’s complicated,” Yumikage finally interjected.

Shuuhei and Tinker both turned their heads to the sour blonde who, other than a few grumbles under his breath, had remained silent for the whole conversation. Yumikage cast a steely blue gaze up at them in response. He really didn’t want to tell anyone other than those that already knew just what kind of a monster Touma really was.

“You could say… that we probably hate that bastard more than you hate vampires,” Yumikage muttered lowly.

There was a resigned hollowness to his gaze that sent even Shuuhei’s cold look running for cover. Yumikage was generally an angry person, but when he truly loathed something it was completely different. If possible, it felt as if the man himself could rip out any happiness in the room with a single glance. It was this same glance being cast now that convinced Shuuhei enough that the pair before him hadn’t made this decision rashly. This was a longstanding hatred that was beyond anything he knew of. It rivalled his own, and that meant that it deserved respect and deserved to be heard out in full.

With a resigned sigh, he closed his eyes a moment and adjusted his glasses, “Fine then… what do you plan to do about the Sloth pair? That’s Kamiya-kun’s direct responsibility. We can’t let them wander freely.”

“I’ll take over it,” Yumikage spoke out, “I’m the most qualified after Tsurugi anyways.”

“What about your other work?” Junichirou looked to his partner with a concerned gaze.

Yumikage simply shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. It couldn’t be helped, “I’ll manage. It’s not like we’re busy right now.”

 _‘Yumikage…’_ Junichirou could understand his partner’s feelings. If he wasn’t so busy stretching himself between work and his son, he would’ve offered as well. However, with his wife gone he was the only one left in his son’s life. He couldn’t bear to risk what little he had left right now. The tied hands he lived with sent a shiver of guilt down his spine, bringing a weight to his shoulders knowing Yumikage was taking on all of the burden himself. All three of them had been so close growing up, and in a time of great need Junichirou found himself unable to offer little assistance to both of them. There had to be something he could do…

“So… what are the tasks Mikuni-san asked you to do?” Tinker spoke up, sensing the heavy atmosphere and tried her best to dissolve it with getting back on topic.

“Well, first we need to erase the footage of Tsurugi leaving C3. It’s probably spread across multiple cameras so it will take some time. The sooner we do it though, the better our rate of success.”

“The vice branch manager is almost always poking his head into the surveillance room. You better act quickly,” Shuuhei added.

“Yah…” Junichirou scratched the back of his head, looking to Shuuhei and Tinker again, “We know. That’s why we need your help.”

“If you can find the first camera on Kamiya-kun’s room and the time he left, I can track the cameras from there and do an image wipe,” Tinker spoke up again.

“You can do that?” Junichirou asked in surprise.

“Sure, it’s pretty easy,” Tinker pointed to the equipment behind her, “I’ve got some software I can edit over the image of Kamiya-kun leaving so it looks as if he never left. The metadata on the tapes won’t change then as well as the times. That way if the footage is looked at in detail it’s pretty much untraceable.”

“What if they come to you in order to research the tapes? You’ll be forced to do everything you can to try and decode your own cover up,” Yumikage replied.

“Oh I’ll be fine,” Tinker smiled and waved her hand dismissively, “I can bluff my way out of a paper bag if I want. And there’s no way to even tell the data’s been messed with so none of my equipment would be able to detect any foul play.”

“That’s a horrible analogy…” Shuuhei muttered at Tinker’s bluff example with an unimpressed look.

“Awww! I thought it was clever!” she pouted up at her senior.

Shuuhei ignored her in response and folded his arms across his chest, leaning back against Tinker’s desk.

“I still have a few lingering questions. What do you plan to do for any missions you’re called on? The minute Code Balder is initialized everyone will know he’s missing.”

“Not at first, Tsurugi’s skipped work plenty of times. It’s not unusual,” Junichiriou replied.

“What if the vice branch manager calls direct for him?”

“We’ll deal with that when the time comes. There likely won’t be any way around admitting Tsurugi’s not with us. Mikuni’s aware of this as well, knowing the rouse can’t last forever.”

“If he knows it won’t last forever why use it in the first place?”

“He wants to buy time.”

“Buy time?”

Junichirou faltered, not knowing quite where to go with this. Explaining any further would reveal more personal details on Tsurugi’s life with Touma. He looked to Yumikage for any sort of guidance on what was the best way to approach the matter. Yumikage regarded his friend with a less than thrilled gaze but took the reins and spoke up, stepping forward.

“What we’re about to say, doesn’t leave this room. It should go without saying as well, but the footage of this conversation also needs to be erased.”

“Of course,” Tinker nodded as she and Tsuyuki watched the pair with expectant eyes.

“…Tsurugi is…”

 

* * *

 

“ …Going to need a few days’ rest,” the doctor spoke while examining the x-rays in her office.

Mikuni and Tsurugi sat in one of the offices at the emergency clinic with Tsurugi dressed in a hospital gown and swim trunks. Mikuni hadn’t bothered dressing him too properly, not knowing what may be injured on him, but the man needed _something_. Thinking quickly on his feet, Mikuni had grabbed a fresh pair of swim trunks from his room, helping slip them onto Tsurugi’s waist while they had waited for the ambulance to arrive. Given how badly the man had been clutching his arm and hissing in pain, the Alicein didn’t even bother with a shirt and merely placed a dry towel on his shoulders to keep him from catching cold. Tsurugi didn’t like having his body so exposed… given the sight of it, but there was little he could do to protest with the state of things.

Once the ambulance had arrived, Tsurugi was escorted downstairs and into the emergency vehicle with Mikuni following behind. For a first day together, this really wasn’t how Mikuni had anticipated it going.

Arriving at the hospital, Tsurugi was taken to radiology for x-rays and given a full exam by the staff on call. Not being related to the man, Mikuni was ordered to sit in the waiting room until Tsurugi was given clearance to be seen. Mikuni took the opportunity to his advantage as a means to clear his head and reassess the situation. He walked out of the hospital, just past the smoking room and sat on one of the benches nearby. He wondered briefly, if smoking like his old partner did would help him calm down and think straight, but he just couldn’t handle the smell of it.

Jeje, who hid himself under Mikuni’s scarf while travelling, finally emerged his head and looked over to his eve who seemed deep in thought on the whole fiasco. The Servamp was tempted to speak, but thought better of it and held his tongue for now. He was curious to see just what sort of plan his eve may come up with next to combat this unfortunate error in judgement. To have one of Mikuni’s plans backfire on him was a rare occurrence. Come to think of it… had that ever happened before? Was Mikuni slipping? Surely his eve had to be asking these same questions while mulling it over in his mind.

“This shouldn’t change anything no matter the result,” Mikuni finally muttered—assumedly to Jeje, “If he’s less mobile then it’s less chance he has to try running back to that place. I’m sure he still wants to, despite what I’ve said.”

“…Do you think he’ll… suspect his phone was tampered with?” Jeje asked in a whisper.

“It’s possible… but I doubt it. C3 members are given their own work phones. Since Tsurugi has only lived at that place, his phone is obviously a work phone. It would stand to reason that it’d be shut down after his contract is terminated.”

“…The data… would likely also be wiped… you didn’t do that.”

Mikuni bit at his lower lip. That was a complete error in judgement on his end. He’d originally withheld from doing so to not make his actions seem suspicious. However, Jeje’s comment now had him worried. Thinking on his feet again though, Mikuni came up with a quick solution to it all. As fortune would have it, currently Tsurugi’s old phone was in his possession. He could wipe all the data, but if Tsurugi had looked at the phone and then found later the data was wiped after Mikuni had been in possession of it, that would raise suspicion. Instead, Mikuni would leave the phone as is, feigning ignorance he didn’t know that phones were shut down, considering he had handed his in when his own membership had ended. In addition, it wasn’t so hard to believe that the data couldn’t be wiped when the phone was so far away from the base. Data wipes often had to be done in person—not remotely. Unless it was a virus.

Mikuni felt confident in his cover up and relaxed his shoulders. Much to Jeje’s surprise that is… The Servamp figured his eve must have come up with a plausible strategy to cover himself and keep the rouse in place. As far as Jeje was concerned though, this was starting to seem like a lot of work to be made over someone who could just as easily be killed off. Problem solved. However, Jeje didn’t think like his master. Mikuni was a man that looked to the long-term goals and how to get there. Every pawn was important, and sacrifices need be made only when the timing was right. This was probably why Jeje found himself often tricked by his eve instead of the other way around—the way it had always been in the past. Mikuni was never a doubtful man, and as such it kept the Servamp at bay from consuming him. As much as the Alicein agitated Jeje, he had to admit his current eve was a man to behold.

It was a short while after, that a nurse from the hospital came out looking for Mikuni. She went as far as the entrance calling out his name. Mikuni lifted his head up and removed himself from the bench to head over to her.

“I’m Alicein Mikuni. Is Tsurugi alright?”

“Ah, Alicein-san. This way please,” she ushered him back inside so they could discuss privately. The nurse continued to then escort Mikuni back to the emergency wing of the hospital, “Kamiya-san is in one of our temporary rooms while we wait for the results of his x-rays. There doesn’t seem to be any immediate concern for his injuries, but his shoulder has us a little concerned.”

By the time the nurse had finished speaking, they were outside the room Tsurugi was in. The nurse gestured forward, telling Mikuni it was all right to go in and gave a curt bow.

“You may wait here while we obtain the final results of his exams. Should you need us, please press the red call button here,” she pointed out the emergency call button by the bed Tsurugi was sitting on, before politely excusing herself and shutting the door behind to give the pair some privacy.

With a sigh, Mikuni took a seat on one of the chairs—likely for the doctor, and looked up at Tsurugi. The other was dressed in a gown over Mikuni’s swim trunks and his arm had been placed into a sling for now. His chin had been cleaned up but it wasn’t bandaged yet until the doctors were certain nothing was broken.

“Guess you got pretty banged up huh?” Mikuni looked over Tsurugi with a nod at the sling.

“…”

Tsurugi himself was very quiet and reserved. Come to think of it, he’d been that way even tracing back to when Mikuni had first received the phone call. Shyly, his golden eyes moved over to Mikuni before looking back down to the floor.

“…Are you mad?”

“Mad?” Mikuni repeated back, feigning surprise, though he knew damn well why Tsurugi would think he was mad. He decided to pose the question anyways to make his reaction more believable, “Why would I be mad?”

“…Because I got hurt… and now I’m costing you money,” Tsurugi felt a familiar fear rising inside of him as he spoke. As Mikuni’s property, his ‘repair fees’ were now Mikuni’s responsibility… and they didn’t come cheap. Tsurugi had more than a few anomalies hiding inside of him—some Mikuni probably wasn’t even aware of.

“It was an accident, it’s not like you can help it,” Mikuni replied, and rested a hand under his chin.

Despite his words, this fact didn’t seem to register with Tsurugi and the other proceeded to keep his eyes downcast towards the tile flooring.

“I’m not going to boot you out or anything. Is that what you’re afraid of?”

Tsurugi shook his head negatively.

“Well then, what is it? I’m not a mind reader Tsurugi,” _especially with your mind_ , Mikuni noted.

Tsurugi simply flickered his gaze once at Mikuni with a look of absolute guilt before casting his gaze back to the floor. He didn’t want to withhold things from Mikuni, but at the same time he was fearful of what the real answers might bring. Granted, Tsurugi wasn’t an avid fan of sticking to regimes or anything of the sort, but this unfortunately became painfully apparent whenever he was examined. At the very least… he should offer Mikuni a warning.

“…I’m expensive,” he finally replied.

Helpful as Tsurugi thought that might be, this only prompted more confusion and questions from the Alicein, “What do you mean by expensive?”

“…You’ll see.”

It had been at that time the doctor looking over Tsurugi’s X-rays finally returned with a nurse proceeding in behind her. Mikuni went to remove himself from the doctor’s seat, but the official waved her hand dismissively, which allowed Mikuni to retake his seat. The doctor displayed the results showing thankfully, nothing was fractured—or at least not that Mikuni could tell. A second later and that suspicion was confirmed.

“Remarkably, nothing is broken, but the right shoulder has been dislocated here,” she pointed to a specific point on the x-rays.

“Is it going to require surgery?” Tsurugi asked up front.

Mikuni looked over at the other, finding the direct approach quite contrasting from his earlier reserved mood. What had prompted this suddenly? Most likely, it had something to do with Tsurugi mentioning he was expensive earlier. Was it a fear that he was perhaps worse off than he thought? That wouldn’t really surprise Mikuni, Tsurugi tended to shake things off he really shouldn’t.

For a moment, Mikuni’s mind travelled back to when they’d been partners and Tsurugi had taken a heavy blow on his behalf. He recalled riding in the ambulance while Tsurugi desperately fought for his life, only to be turned away by the medical staff. At the time, Mikuni had fully believed it was due to Touma’s desires to ‘teach the damn thing a lesson’ when he and Tsurugi had originally been together. In those days, Tsurugi had begun to stray from Touma’s absolute obedience in favour of following Mikuni along like a little duckling. Mikuni wasn’t blind to this of course, which had in part been why he’d left, but the pair had never spoken of the details until now. Mikuni had always assumed, likewise, that the reason for that event was due to some cruel spite from Touma, but now Mikuni wondered… Was Tsurugi something special when it came to medical care?

“Surgery won’t be necessary. We’ll be able to pop it back into place, but you’ll be sore and you’ll need to rest for a few days. We’ll prescribe you some muscle relaxers and pain medication to help ease the discomfort.”

“Ah—“ Tsurugi interjected, moving his good arm out.

Everyone in the room froze momentarily—including Mikuni, looking directly at Tsurugi.

“I… can’t. I’m on other medication.”

“Oh?” The physician pulled out her clipboard to note down the prescriptions, “What other medications do you take?”

“I… can’t tell you… they’re special.”

Naturally, something like this would prompt suspicion from the average person. However, from a medical perspective, this was even more so. Both the physician and nurse narrowed their eyes some.

“Kamiya-san, while we cannot force you… we don’t condone the use of illegal drugs.”

There was an audible slap as Mikuni’s head fell directly into his palm. Of course Tsurugi would make things complicated, why wouldn’t he? It was practically the idiot’s only note-worthy skill! Mikuni knew it was something specific from C3, so Tsurugi wouldn’t be able to say it out-right. However, he could at least lie or offer some better cover up than _that_. Once again, Mikuni stepped up to fill in the holes of his old partner’s argument.

“He’s on medication for a mental condition prescribed by his psychiatrist,” Tsurugi could pass as a loon. He practically was one already, “He’s on a few different medications so the restrictions are pretty tight. Would we be able to call his doctor and get a list of the recommended medicine we’d be allowed?”

Thank fates for Mikuni. Tsurugi hadn’t realized how awkward he’d made the situation, having never been to a doctor outside of C3. Looking over to Mikuni, the former ace felt a bit insulted at having to play a psychiatric patient, but really… he didn’t even have to act for it to be convincing. He basically was one at this point even if he didn’t have the official title. Lucky man…

The physician seemed to believe Mikuni only partially, but was unable to pursue the issue any further given her own legal restrictions. With a reluctant sigh, she moved over to where Tsurugi was sitting and began carefully removing his sling.

“At least for now, you can work with a few over the counter pain medicines. Follow the instructions on the bottle and don’t take any more than what’s instructed,” she gave a pointed look to Tsurugi, still not quite believing him, “Now I want you to hold your arm at this height and we’re going to pop your shoulder back in. Count back from 3 ok?”

As the countdown sounded, Mikuni watched with interest while Tsurugi looked back to him. At once, both the doctor and nurse applied pressure to the joint, popping it back in with an audible crunch and pop that made Mikuni even wince. Tsurugi however… barely flinched. His eyes were glossy and there had been a small gasp, but otherwise he was remarkably tolerant of the whole ordeal. Even the medical professionals stepped back with a bit of awe and surprise. The nurse then moved in to place his sling back on and begin patching up the small cuts on Tsurugi’s chin to keep them clean; along with a few other minor scrapes.

“Well Kamiya-san, despite some of your quirks I have to say if all of my patients were like you my day would be a lot easier,” the physician then turned back to her clipboard, closing down her computer. It was a sign things were ending, but not without one last hiccup, “Sir,” she then turned her gaze to Mikuni, “Can I ask you to step outside for a moment? We’ll be done shortly.”

Not thinking much of it. Mikuni nodded and got up from his seat, “Sure, no problem. I’ll be waiting outside ‘kay Tsurugi?” he gave a small wave back to the other before heading out. Something about the look on Tsurugi’s face watching Mikuni exit begged the other not to leave him alone with these people. It was only after Mikuni shut the door behind him, did it then dawn on his person.

_“Shit—his scars…!”_

 

* * *

 

With Mikuni out of the room, the physician turned her attention back on Tsurugi, “The only other remaining question I have for you now is the lacerations on your skin.”

Tsurugi visibly froze.

“We don’t normally intervene when it comes to a patient’s personal appearance, but the amount of scarring is concerning.”

“I’m fine… they’re old,” Tsurugi tried to remain visibly composed, but he was beginning to tremble. He didn’t like people looking at his scars. He didn’t like people asking questions about them. He didn’t like it… _he didn’t like it!_

“That may be… but you did come in here with new injuries supposedly from a fall. We’d like you to know however, that this hospital is a safe refuge and aids if you find yourself in a dangerous situation,” The physician reached into her pocket, pulling out a card and handing it to Tsurugi. Tsurugi didn’t even want to look at it. He didn’t want to read the words, “This person you’re with… they’re not hurting you, are they?”

Tsurugi shook his head feverishly, “No…”

_“They got me out… But the person I was with… wasn’t hurting me either. These are all mistakes I’ve made.”_

Unfortunately, there was only so much one could do with any victim not willing to comply. They couldn’t force a removal, especially if the patient was an adult. They could certainly advise however, and offer as much assistance as possible.

“…All right… if you ever feel unsafe though… call the number on the card and someone will help you get out. Do not lose that card, and don’t show it to anyone.”

Tsurugi nodded his head, just wanting the experience to be over with already.

Soon enough thankfully, it was, and the minute Tsurugi was out of the office Mikuni was there waiting for him. A feigned look of concern was set on his face. He hadn’t thought of it before when Tsurugi was in so much pain, but now that the situation had calmed, Mikuni was kicking himself for not having covered Tsurugi up better. This plan really was starting to show off faults… too many faults for his liking.

“Hey… all patched up?” he tried to lighten up the mood, but both men knew exactly what had transpired behind those closed office doors.

“I wanna get out of here…” Tsurugi brought his working arm up to try and shield himself. However, given the scars on his arms as well, the action did little for him.

Mikuni clicked his tongue in annoyance, trying to think of something he could do. Tsurugi was going to need new clothes and the pair had planned to get some, but this really wasn’t the way Mikuni had thought it would all go down. The only person he could call for help would be Johannes but that was a whole other can of worms he wasn’t ready to open just yet. Calling Yumikage or even Junichirou would be getting an ear full and it was a poor chance either would be available anyways. That left only one choice as amber eyes rolled down to the scarf around his neck.

Jeje… as if almost sensing the opportunity for blood, poked his head right up from inside Mikuni’s scarf, alert to his master’s needs. Well, that’s how Jeje liked to make it seem. Truth be told, he and Mikuni both knew how things really worked between them. It wasn’t all that happy of a relationship to be honest.

“Jeje… I need you to stay with him, while I go buy him some clothes,” Mikuni ordered.

Sending Jeje wasn’t really an option, seeing as his human appearance would prompt a fair amount of alarm—not to mention the sunlight. Keeping him by Tsurugi however, offered the other some sense of companionship while Mikuni went off and did the dirty work. It wasn’t how Mikuni liked to have things play out, but that’s just the way it was. If he didn’t want to make any more mistakes like this, he’d really have to watch himself going forward.

Jeje did as he was told and slithered down from Mikuni’s neck, wrapping himself around Tsurugi’s arm. He would quote his price for the offered assistance at a more convenient time. A busy hospital wasn’t an ideal place to be having a conversation with a snake—not even considering Tsurugi had already been earmarked as a psychiatric patient.

“Keep yourself hidden if someone comes by,” Mikuni ordered.

Tsurugi looked like he wanted to say something as well, but Mikuni simply didn’t have the time and held up a hand to him, “We’ll talk later. And again… I’m not mad. I’ll be back soon.”

With that, Mikuni headed off once again.

 

* * *

 

“Hmm… this is quite a show so far…” a velvet voice sung in the shadows.

From the depths trotted out a small creature covered head to toe in a matching pitch black. Ears pointed straight up and a long bushy tail trailed smoke from the ends. The creature sat at the edge of an alleyway, watching the busy traffic of city life pass before it. Being so well blended with the shadows, no one seemed to notice the small fox sitting at its entryway like a spiritual guardian; not even a pair of brown combat boots belonging to the Servamp of Envy as he passed by.

Just as mysteriously as the fox had appeared however, the small creature vanished from its place in the world as a wisp of smoke. Laughter trailed in the air as the essence of a darker magic faded from existence. Far off, in an undisclosed location, a hand reached out over a red fire, blood dripping down steadily from the pad of an index finger. Tsubaki watched the crimson flames—dancing light reflecting in his own unsettling gaze.

“How interesting~ That annoying mad hound is out for the count, and nowhere to be found in his cage… How truly interesting this will be~ Ahahahaha… AHHAHAHAHHHAHAHA-----ah… it’s not interesting at all though…”

Tsubaki then stood from his position in front of the flames, no longer in need of their service. Otogiri stepped forward from the shadows, dousing the fire with a pail of water for the time being. Her master would undoubtedly use this magic again, but there was no sense in keeping a dangerous blaze burning when not actively needed. Her hallowed gaze followed after the retreating back of her master, who paused at the doorway of the room.

“Otogiri…” he called out to her.

“Fetch Sakuya for me, would you? I think there are some of our family at C3 I’d like to have released~”

While Tsubaki had ordered Lilac to tell his subclass that they were free to live their lives how they pleased, a set few had remained loyal to him. Tsubaki didn’t understand why at first, and felt both a pang of guilt and a humble nature well inside himself at their dedication to him. Had he really made such an impact in their lives that they willingly chose to stay with him even after being given their keys to freedom? He didn’t understand it… Had it been because they were human at one point? Even Sakuya, the one everyone had suspected the most to betray him, stood at Tsubaki’s side and continued to offer his services for the Servamp’s bidding. It was a touching notion, and one that would send a warmth through his chest if Tsubaki lingered on the feeling too long. The loyalty of his subclass held no compare.

Otogiri said nothing to her master for the time being. As always, she obediently followed his request and nodded her head in due respect until he had left the room. Only then did she mutter under her breath about how troublesome it would be to find Sakuya and reached her hand to the top buttons of her dress. She undid the first 3, reaching into her ample bosom to pull out her cellphone. Her dress had no pockets to speak of, so this was the only option for the time being. Thankfully, most everyone she interacted with cared very little about it—not that she tended to open her clothing in front of people anyways.

Flicking her thumb along the screen, her eyes followed the trailing list of contacts until it happened upon Sakuya’s name. She clicked into his contact information, and then clicked again once more to call him. Sakuya had already been on the trail to keep an eye on Mikuni under Tsubaki’s orders. Most likely he was the reason Tsubaki had been tipped off in the first place by the sudden shift in power from his enemies. Otogiri held the phone to her ear and listened to the dial tone as it rang Sakuya. Her arm folded under her breasts in its usual manner, gripping the arm bent up at her side.

Seated on the rooftop overlooking the hospital, Sakuya was perched on the edge of the concrete. He wasn’t afraid of falling from the height. Being essentially immortal, such dangers a normal person may air on the side of caution with became trivial to him. There was a small irony that he now tended to prefer sitting on the edge of buildings given his own demise, but really… who was to care about his own internal struggles? The only person whom ever had shown him a scrap of concern had been Mahiru… but Mahiru and he now stood on opposite sides of a tall fence—his master, Tsubaki, as the mediator.

Surely, Tsubaki had been the one to extend his hand when Sakuya needed it most, and offered him a chance at reprise against the horrible injustice fate had dealt him. That had earned Tsubaki a deep-seated loyalty, but it was not unbreakable. In his time spent mingling with fellow humans he could’ve very well been classmates with, Sakuya had developed a small sense of desire inside him—a desire of change—of _wanting_ to be changed. Living in a world of lies was a painful way to live, and he had grown tired… so tired of it all. Yet that’s all life seemed to deal out to him no matter what route he tried to take. Was he incapable of being anything more than a disgusting liar…?

A sharp electronic buzzing cut the teen from his thoughts and he looked down to see his phone vibrating beside him against the concrete. Sakuya had expected to see Tsubaki’s name on the caller ID, but instead it was Otogiri’s. Sakuya figured even if she was calling that it was most likely a message from Tsubaki. He and the other subclass didn’t exactly have a close relationship—and he preferred it that way. Sakuya tried to keep himself as distant from Tsubaki as possible, yet it seemed he was unable to escape the fox’s gaze.

“What is it…?” he answered the call without a greeting. There was no need to waste his breath on pleasantries when he honestly couldn’t give a shit less.

“He wants you to return,” Otogiri spoke calmly on the other end. Much like Sakuya, she too couldn’t be bothered with pleasantries and false kind words. Everything came into her world as it was. There was no good or evil and no kindness or hatred. Things simply came and left in tones of muted grey to keep her forever disinterested in the reality around her.

Sakuya’s brows furrowed on the other end of the line, his tone growing slightly more irritated. While he hated doing Tsubaki’s various tasks, he hated being around the man more. At least in doing jobs he could be alone and be left to his thoughts—not that they were pleasant by any means. Although sometimes, memories slipped in of he and Mahiru laughing together as they’d once been… _sometimes_.

“Right now?” Sakuya grumbled in response.

“He has a task for you.”

Without any further detail, due both because she had none and it was deemed a bother to go into, Otogiri ended her call and placed her phone back. She released a small exhale, looking at the vacant room about her.

“He’s coming back now… that’s going to be troublesome.”

At that moment, as if to punctuate her statement, Belkia popped his head into the room looking around.

“Aah? Tsuba-kyun isn’t here? Maaannn… what a drag!”

Back in the skies, Sakuya held out his phone before him, seeing the call from Otogiri had ended. The sound click had been proof enough, but it grated on him actually seeing his phone already on the home screen by the time it left his ear. Sakuya grit his teeth with a small hiss of annoyance before shoving his phone back into his pocket and standing upon the rooftop. What an annoying guy Tsubaki was, hell… all of them.

Stepping down from the ledge back onto the roof, Sakuya kicked away a small piece of debris as he began making his way to the stairwell, in order to return to base. He paused just before opening the door, glancing up to the cloud dotted sky above him; the sun showing down brightly on the inhabitants below. He lingered his gaze only a moment before then throwing the door open and heading inside.

Down below, Mikuni was on his way back from the nearest clothing store, having grabbed a simple long-sleeved top (a button down), and a pair of slacks he figured were about Tsurugi’s size. Tsurugi remained seated inside with Jeje nearby. The Servamp had himself coiled around the bars of the chair behind Tsurugi to hide in the shadows when need be. The pair had remained silent until Mikuni was to return. Whispers and conversations of doctors and patients walking by stung Tsurugi’s ears. Even if the talks weren’t directed at him, he could pick out those that were—being whispered behind hands that had risen to cover their shocked expressions. Even conversations that had not been directed at him were beginning to deafen his ears. Tsurugi hated being in hospitals, he hated being looked at or examined, he just wanted to get out.

Voices high and low stung his ears. The laughter, sobbing, and chatter of medical jargon assaulted Tsurugi’s ears, growing to almost deafening decibels. The reality was quite the opposite, but picking up one conversation after another slowly began to overwhelm Tsurugi. His breathing began to pick up and his heart flutter faster, fearing someone might actually try to call him out and point out his appearance.

_‘Did you see that man…?’_

_‘Yah… I wonder what happened to him.’_

_‘Those look like scars from a beating…’_

_‘Why is he dressed like that?’_

_‘Do you think the police brought him in?’_

Tsurugi’s arms gripped around himself a bit tighter as his mind began to run wild. He curled himself over on the bench, breathing shallowly as he tried to keep himself together both mentally and in some sense physically. Jeje watched from his perch on the bench, having not seen Tsurugi in such a state even in their time together when Mikuni had worked directly under C3. Tsurugi… when he’d even been on his death bed, didn’t carry such a look of vulnerability to him. Although he’d seemed unhinged, in his own way, Tsurugi had also appeared to have a mind like a steel trap. Perhaps instead… it had been more like an iron gate to barricade against anyone from accessing what he was really like beneath. Mikuni may be getting less than he was bargaining for with this one…

“…—Tsurugi. Hey, Tsurugi,” Mikuni finally broke through to the man before him.

Tsurugi startled and looked up, seeing Mikuni gazing down at him. The Alicein’s brows were furrowed in a slight concern for his old partner. Tsurugi held the same look on his face he’d had the night previous at the train station. Not wanting the other to spontaneously break down in tears at a public location again, Mikuni bent down and hugged him gently, trying to coax the other up while whispering to him.

“Keep yourself together. I got you some clothes so let’s get you out of here. Just keep yourself together,” Mikuni wasn’t about to deal with another break down. Not here… He could inquire Tsurugi on it later.

The eve of Envy led Tsurugi along to the nearest bathroom with Jeje slithering right back up to hide in his scarf. Mikuni opened the door for Tsurugi, seeing the notice that the bathroom was unoccupied and handed him the bag of newly bought clothing.

“You need any help getting dressed?” he asked.

Tsurugi shook his head negatively, reaching to take the bag before Mikuni held it away from him. Confused, Tsurugi looked up to the other with knitted brows. Mikuni made a gesture down at Tsurugi’s arm in the sling with a nod of his head.

“How do you plan on getting your shirt on like that?” a small smirk played on Mikuni’s lips.

Golden eyes fell to the sling around his arm before trailing back up to Mikuni. Tsurugi felt, much to his own amazement, a small flush hit his cheeks and with a nod of defeat he conceded to Mikuni’s help.

Mikuni’s smirk relaxed some and he stepped into the restroom, locking the door for the moment so they wouldn’t be happened upon while getting Tsurugi changed. The sign outside changed from vacant to occupied as well.

Mikuni moved over to set the bag down on the ground and help Tsurugi out of the medical gown. Hands worked diligently to undo the three sets of ties on his back, noting the scars in place on him. One in particular stood out; as always. It was probably the largest scar on Tsurugi’s body and stretched from his navel almost all the way around to his spine. It began at his ribs and ended just at the line of his hips. It was a scar Mikuni had felt directly responsible for, even if he’d never admitted so aloud. It was his own mistake that Tsurugi was now forced to carry on his body forever.

In the all-seeing gaze of the mirror before them, Tsurugi caught Mikuni’s lingering eyes on him and wrapped his good arm around himself trying to cover up more.

“Please stop staring…” he whispered, feeling his mood continue to drop rapidly. Though, to be honest, Tsurugi didn’t think it could go much lower than it had been.

Hearing Tsurugi’s request, Mikuni looked up seeing the other’s pleading eyes. Mikuni had known Tsurugi had never been fond of his own appearance. Generally, they’d never spoken about it, leaving the subject untouched along with many others between them. In an effort to perhaps bridge some trust between them, Mikuni slipped the gown from Tsurugi’s shoulders then. He pressed a delicate kiss against an old scar, hearing his former partner gasp shallowly under him. Mikuni had made a lot of mistakes in his plans today, but he could still salvage this situation by perhaps pulling old issues out from under the rug. Why not take Tsurugi’s insecurities and turn them into something more benefiting?

Pulling his lips back, Mikuni spoke against Tsurugi’s ear, moving his hand down to coax Tsurugi’s arm down, “How can I not stare at someone so intoxicating… standing practically nude before me?”

“I’m not intoxicating,” Tsurugi replied, keeping his arm rigid against himself, “I’ve costed you money. I fucked up and had to be brought here. You should return me to where I belong.”

Mikuni’s brows lowered and he gripped Tsurugi a little tighter then, though not enough to cause him pain. Determined as the man was to get Tsurugi caught in his web, he knew to be gentle given the circumstances right now.

“Where you belong is with me,” He spoke again with an honest infliction, “I bought you Tsurugi, remember that. I didn’t buy you thinking that this would be a one-time cost or that things would instantly be better between us. I bought you to get you out of that place because I know deep down that’s what you wanted… to live for yourself finally and make your own choices. I don’t know all the ins and outs of what you’ve been through, and I know it’s not an instant fix, but you do have more worth than you think.”

Mikuni turned Tsurugi around gently, in order to be certain the other was taking in his words. He wasn’t about to waste his breath for no reason. Bringing a hand up with the other at Tsurugi’s side, he tilted the former ace’s chin up to look at him squarely in the eyes.

“I’m not Touma, Tsurugi…” Mikuni’s voice softened, “Please don’t think because you made one mistake that I’m going to treat you the same way.”

That statement at least, seemed to register with the former C3 member and Tsurugi widened his eyes in a small realization. Mikuni was right—he wasn’t Touma, and up until now, Tsurugi had been thinking that way until it was brought to his attention. He hadn’t even realized he’d been doing so until this moment, but Mikuni was right. Every response he’d carried under the weight of his own burdens was in fact the way he’d respond with Touma. Could he really be blamed though? It was all he’d ever known until today. Such patterns weren’t so easily undone… and yet again, Mikuni had pointed this out and had even gone as far to say he’d work with it. Mikuni knew Tsurugi was broken, that much was certain, but he was also willing to start putting Tsurugi together. The only way he could though, would be if the former hound of C3 was willing to do so with him. A person couldn’t be fixed if they refused to take charge themselves. Tsurugi didn’t want to be that person anymore. He didn’t want to be the person that had every decision made for them and walk blindly into their grave. For the first time, Tsurugi felt the desire to live his own life… to make his own choices, and he would do so starting today.

The meek and submissive behavior that had been overtaking of Tsurugi melted away under this self-realization and Tsurugi felt his old self return—but inside something new stirred, making his stomach flutter and his chest warm. He didn’t know what fully compelled him to act next, but before he knew it Tsurugi was pressing his lips against Mikuni’s. His shame in himself began to wash away, feeling Mikuni’s hand slide down to his back and remove the last tie.

Mikuni of course, returned the kiss, opening his mouth against Tsurugi’s. He pressed his tongue in, slipping the medical gown carefully from Tsurugi’s body to pool down onto the floor at their feet. The Alicein smiled against Tsurugi then, pulling back just enough to where their noses were touching while he spoke.

“For the record… I really do find your scars beautiful.”

“Coming from you?” Golden eyes peered back up at Mikuni, “A man who has perfect skin that’s lightly tanned and without a single scratch? ...I don’t believe you~” Tsurugi replied back with a small smirk.

Mikuni then pulled Tsurugi close, with a low and possessive growl. His hand on Tsurugi’s back, traced over the patches of scarred and fine skin, massaging lightly. Tsurugi let out a sound Mikuni thought he wouldn’t hear for some time that day… _a laugh_. It was slight and shortly lived, but it left its mark with a complacent smile on the other’s face that cued to Mikuni he was on the right track.

The smirk on Mikuni's face grew as he stared down at his former partner, admiring their proximity and renewed mood between them. It seemed the downtrodden air Tsurugi had been suffocating under earlier was beginning to ebb away. However, Mikuni had a growing desire now to bar off those old fears inside of Tsurugi completely. Perhaps it was curiosity to see results that drove him to his next moves, or an intent more malicious—bringing Tsurugi further under his influence. Whichever the reason, Mikuni leaned his head down to Tsurugi’s ear, nibbling against the pierced lobe as he spoke.

“Do you want me to prove it to you?” he husked over Tsurugi, who in turn knitted his brows firmly together with a growing tension.

By this point, Jeje had made his way off Mikuni’s neck and had curled himself up in the furthest recesses away from the pair to shelter himself. The Servamp didn’t enjoy being present for this, knowing very well what was to come.  Unfortunately for Jeje, in such a cramped space that was somehow remarkably open, there were few hiding places that were sheltered enough to block _everything_ out. In response to this, the small snake curled himself up as tight as his body would allow, burrowing his head under his own black coils. Mikuni may not have realized it at the time, but Jeje was definitely adding this inconvenience onto his service fee as well. Assholes could've at least let him stay outside of the room and hide somewhere less intrusive.

Before giving Tsurugi much chance to decide on the Alicein's imposed question, Mikuni turned him around to face the mirror at the sink of the washroom. Tsurugi and Mikuni could then both view Tsurugi's revealed body on display—minus the pair of swim trunks around his hips. The blonde continued to smirk behind Tsurugi, knowing he'd be removing those articles of clothing soon enough. Placing his head then onto Tsurugi’s good shoulder, Mikuni began kissing at the patches of differentiating skin while a hand moved up to tweak one of Tsurugi’s nipples. The other hand stayed complacent on Tsurugi’s waist… for now. Tsurugi felt his body stiffen in response, watching as Mikuni began to coil around him like a snake in the mirror’s reflection.

Lightly calloused finger pads rubbed over the small nub on Tsurugi’s chest once, causing the raven haired man to gasp lightly with his mobile hand going forward to grip the sink. He felt a small pang along his clavicle, even though he wasn’t moving his other shoulder much. Thankfully, the former ace had a high pain tolerance and was easily able to overcome it. He shuddered softly under Mikuni, feeling those warmed hands rub over his sensitive skin. A small flush began to blossom on his cheeks.

“K-Kuni-chan… in a hospital?” he looked to his old partner with a slight expression of audacity.

Mikuni could’ve laughed at the situation, seeing Tsurugi being the conservative one for once. This same man had been the one to essentially pull Mikuni into the nearest broom closet back in the day to blow him off. It didn't matter where the pair had been, from meeting rooms to out in the field, if Tsurugi made the move they would undoubtedly be doing a dance of bump and grind soon enough. A particular favourite of Mikuni's had always been the secretive blowjobs Tsurugi would give him during a meeting. Mikuni had trained himself into having one hell of a poker face from that.

Thinking back on those days, Mikuni was reminded just how lewd Tsurugi really could be when his head was in the game. There had been more than one occasion the hound had made hand motions at Mikuni to mimic himself sucking off his partner’s dick during a meeting. In those days, Mikuni would flush a bright red and turn his head away, stomping on Tsurugi’s foot beneath the table. Tsurugi would in turn let out a silenced cry of pain that looked a little too pleasurable to actually be one of pain. Now however, Mikuni found himself longing for that same playful nature in his partner again. He wanted to see that same confident and playful youth that had driven him up the wall. It was a different feeling inside… one that hungered inside of him to take the man under him in full force should Tsurugi dare try taunting him with sweet whispers of sucking him off and riding his cock until they were both spent and soiled.

Mikuni kissed at Tsurugi’s neck, moving his hand down to lower Tsurugi’s swim trunks, as he felt the heat inside himself rise. The location wasn’t an issue to him. They’d done it in so many different and forbidden places back in the day, a hospital lavatory was a damned cakewalk—if not a bit questionable for taste. Ah well… it wasn’t as if they were filming this—a thought for later.

“Just keep your voice down, they’ll never know,” he continued in a hushed tone against Tsurugi’s skin, “I want you to see the same beauty I see when I look at your skin. No one else is like you Tsurugi… know that.”

Mikuni then brought his hand up that had been circling against Tsurugi’s nipple, tracing up to his chin once more. Tilting the former ace’s head upward, Mikuni kissed over Tsurugi’s neck. Tongue lapping at the clean skin from the shower Tsurugi had taken prior, Mikuni urged him forward to have a better support against the sink. He was aware of Tsurugi’s injury of course, and wanted to give him better means of support. However, that didn’t mean he’d be going easy on his partner.

“I want you to watch yourself while I pleasure you,” he whispered with an almost commanding infliction, “I will make you understand how erotic you are, even if I have to _fuck it_ _out of you_.”

With that, the hand at Tsurugi’s waist helped itself to the waistband of his swim trunks and forced them down in a swift tug. The resulting motion made Tsurugi flinch under Mikuni, to which the Alicein pressed himself closer, Tsurugi’s skin now flush against him. The former member of C3 could feel his ass rubbing against the rough feel of Mikuni’s pants and belts, his teeth biting at his lower lip with a suppressed whimper. Almost as if it were instinctual, Tsurugi felt his ass press back against Mikuni, pushing firmly to his crotch in offering while his back arched softly under his new owner.

Tsurugi much doubted Mikuni would actually need to fuck him to prove his point, seeing as how the man’s simple touches and words alone were beginning to heat up the raven-haired man. As if Mikuni were almost able to sense this, the hand that had removed Tsurugi’s shorts traversed its way down further, grasping hold of his flaccid dick. Tsurugi let out a shallow gasp in response, curling forward lightly over the sink. Having none of that, with his intention to have Tsurugi watch himself be fucked, Mikuni forced his old partner’s chin upward again with a strong jerk of his hand.

“Watch yourself,” he commanded, “See what I see when I look at you... When I fuck you dry~”

Tsurugi raised his head up as he began to feel Mikuni run his hand along his cock. The light flush that had tinted the man’s cheeks became stronger as he stared at the image of himself being somewhat bent over the sink while Mikuni leaned over him. The Alicein grinned at their reflection together, opening his mouth to bite down on the juncture of Tsurugi’s neck. Tsurugi let out a small cry, gripping the sink tightly under his good hand while heat surged down to his groin.

“Shhh~” Mikuni hummed against the skin. He brushed over the bite with his lips before lapping at the tender flesh with an affectionate tongue, “Don’t let them hear you~”

Tsurugi brought his lips together then, biting down as Mikuni licked over the newly sensitive skin. Keeping quiet while having his cock teased, along with the rest of his bared body, was a rather unfair request. Tsurugi would’ve stomped his foot in protest if he had use of his other arm. As it were, the only thing he appeared capable of doing was gripping the sink for dear life and attempt to breath out any frustrations or pleasures that he could. Like keeping quiet was going to be at all possible once things really got going… Sometimes Mikuni may have expected too much out of people.

In response to Tsurugi’s silent but visible obedience under the mirror’s reflection, Mikuni stroked along Tsurugi’s cock, squeezing his hand around the heating flesh while lips kissed down along Tsurugi’s shoulder. Feeling the temperature of Tsurugi’s body begin to rise, Mikuni brought himself closer until he was flush against Tsurugi’s back. The hand that had been holding Tsurugi’s head up, now slipped down to pull the former ace deeper against him. Something about being surrounded by the heat of another was intoxicating… for both of them. It didn’t help much that the same scents on Tsurugi were mingled with his own. It was probably due to the oils Tsurugi had used in the shower, but Mikuni was hardly complaining. If anything, it aroused him more as he ran his lips along the skin, kissing his way along to mark over his property.

“Mm… you smell good with me on you,” he purred, feeling Tsurugi then shudder under him. The compliment made Tsurugi’s cock twitch to life in his hand, causing Mikuni to let out his own shuddered breath, “You like that huh…? You like imagining me being constantly on you?”

“…I like imagining you… being constantly _in_ me,” Tsurugi replied, much to Mikuni’s surprise and enjoyment.

Mikuni continued to stroke his hand on Tsurugi’s dick, squeezing down firmly as his hand would run up the length of his old partner’s growing erection. Moving his hand along Tsurugi’s dick he could feel his former partner begin to swell in his grip. Veins began to bulge with the rush of blood surging to his arousal—his length engorging in Mikuni’s hand. Feeling playful and possessive, Mikuni gave a firm squeeze, feeling Tsurugi arc under him with a breathless gasp. From what he believed to be hidden from view, Mikuni smiled at the feeling of Tsurugi arousing under him. There was immense pride in knowing he was the only one that could undo Tsurugi so quickly. He squeezed once more before resuming his stroking, thumb giving a playful flick to the underside of Tsurugi’s head, making the man under assault spread his legs wider in submission.

“When… I had gotten hurt… I was cleaning myself out from you,” Tsurugi admitted between labored breaths. His hips began to sway with a need, rutting back against Mikuni’s own, “There was… so much of you in me… I thought… I thought I’d never get it all out. And I didn’t want to… Even as I was cleaning myself… I imagined it was your hand inside me… fucking me until I couldn’t breathe. I called your name… Even if I was sore… I didn’t want you out of me.”

Mikuni was left nearly speechless as his mind raced to catch up with his spiraling sex drive, undone by Tsurugi’s confession. He could feel his pants had become painfully tight on him and his hips were beginning to ache with the need to buck into Tsurugi with a returned lust. Was this really how badly Tsurugi desired him? Did someone Mikuni believed to have been nothing but a hallow shell actually feel such a deeply seeded want? And for _him_ no less… Not that Mikuni wanted to ponder on it at this moment, but what was it Tsurugi felt so addicted to with him?

“…Do you want me inside you now~?” he finally breathed. Mikuni pushed his hips forward, circling them shallowly against Tsurugi’s splayed ass to fray his nerves further.

“…As hard as you can…” Tsurugi replied, risking to look back at Mikuni once with a deep flush on his cheeks.

The question from Mikuni had of course been rhetorical, but the answer he got back from Tsurugi was powerful enough to undo him damn near completely. Mikuni’s hand that had until now kept complacent around Tsurugi’s mid-section, reached forward, turning the faucet on for warm water. This would cover most of the sounds Tsurugi would undoubtedly make, as well as offer them a few playful sensations to experiment with. Mikuni gave a powerful buck of his hips in against Tsurugi’s bare ass once more, making Tsurugi whine with a desperate need—his own erection now rock hard in Mikuni’s hand.

“Kuni-chan…!” he begged, trying to look back at Mikuni once more, but his head was forced back to the mirror.

“I’m going to fuck you until you can’t breathe now…” Mikuni warned, sending shivers down Tsurugi’s spine enough that even his legs shook with anticipation, “And you are going to watch yourself as I fill you up again.”

Removing his hand from Tsurugi’s chin once again now that the other was facing the mirror once more, Mikuni ran it under the spilling warm water to wet his fingers. He drew the wet digits back, trailing over Tsurugi’s chest, making the other moan softly from the sensation. Crystalline streams of water ran down the scarred and fair skin, dripping onto the tile floor beneath the pair. Mikuni then brought his hand down around Tsurugi’s ribs and over his hips. Small trickles of warm water mapped their way across the various curves and imperfections of Tsurugi’s skin, causing him to sigh and roll his hips back against Mikuni. The Alicein chuckled in response to the need of his former partner, sliding his hand down between Tsurugi’s ass. He listened to Tsurugi whimper and spread himself sweetly and completely like a whore to their master. Tsurugi had no shame when it came to being fucked it would seem; something Mikuni found deeply arousing, but also made him feel slightly possessive over. To imaging Tsurugi doing this for anyone else, especially if they waved a few Yukichis in front of him, bubbled an uncomfortable feeling inside Mikuni that made him desire to fuck Tsurugi all the sooner. With little to no remorse for Tsurugi’s own comfort in that moment, Mikuni rammed two of his wet fingers inside of Tsurugi’s hole—knowing the man was still decently stretched out from their night before.

However, being sore from that same night, Tsurugi cried out in a mix of pain and pleasure, thrusting his chest upward. A small squirt of precum slipped from his shaft, seeping down onto Mikuni’s hand that was still wrapped around him. Mikuni cursed inwardly, having forgotten for a brief moment they needed to be quiet. He was thankful for the running water, but that wasn’t going to be enough now with how desperately hard they both wanted to fuck.

“Damnit…” Mikuni brought his hand up from inside Tsurugi briefly to reach around and undo the scarf on his neck. He held it out before Tsurugi and gave a small gesture to it, “Bite this and do _not_ let go, do you hear me?”

Tsurugi nodded fiercely, before bending forward and biting into the cloth. His whole body was setting itself ablaze under this sexual heat. He couldn’t imagine how hot Mikuni was, but he could imagine they’d both be needing a good shower after this. Of course… the minute he imagined that another equally bad thought came into his mind—

_“Can we do it in the shower next?”_

Tsurugi so badly wanted to ask, but he’d already promised Mikuni he wouldn’t let go of the scarf.

_“But… What would he do if I let go…?”_

Tsurugi tempted fate and opened his mouth, letting Mikuni’s scarf fall into the sink. Mikuni, who had been busy undoing his pants, was about ready to yell at Tsurugi just before the other spoke.

“—Fuck me in the shower when we get home.”

Tsurugi spoke directly to the mirror, regarding his own appearance with a fierce determination to make his request be known. The countenance set Mikuni slightly off guard, but Tsurugi countered it by picking up the wet scarf and bringing it up near his mouth again. He spread his legs wider, popping his hips out to tilt his ass up in offering to Mikuni with his hole primed and ready. Where his other arm in better shape, he would’ve used both hands to pry his ass cheeks apart, but that would have to be saved for a later date. Mikuni may have barely stretched him, but Tsurugi knew what he was doing—he knew what his body could take before it would be broken.

“Fuck me every time I disobey you… I want to be on my knees at the snap of your fingers—”

“—Cloth. _In_ ,” Mikuni demanded suddenly, and before Tsurugi knew it, the yellow scarf was back in his mouth, cutting him off from saying another word. The Alicein pulled the scarf back over Tsurugi’s head then, using it as a makeshift reigns to command his disobedient slut. He gave a sharp tug, thrusting Tsurugi’s head up again to watch himself for what was to come next.

Nearly a half second later, something else much larger and more painful than a few wet fingers were inside him, making Tsurugi scream into the cloth and squeeze his eyes shut as he lurched forward. He breathed heavily through his nose; moaning and mewling into the wet fabric as his body fought to accept what was undeniably Mikuni’s swollen and dry cock inside him. Mikuni had himself buried up to the hilt inside of Tsurugi, gasping for air with his body pressed over the other man. The hand on Tsurugi’s erection squeezed tight, with his thumb finding its way onto Tsurugi’s weeping head. Tears sprung from the Tsurugi’s eyes as he tried to relax his sore hole, chest heaving for air as painful and sweet burning inside him slowly began to give way to pleasure once again.

Having no means of a ‘go ahead’ so to speak of, Mikuni gauged for himself when the time was right and waited for the immensely tight squeezing of his own cock to subside. He breathed heavily over Tsurugi, trying to keep his mind from tipping over that sweet edge as he felt the man’s muscles rippled around his cock. Fucking hell… was Tsurugi doing that on purpose? Mikuni didn’t know… nor did he really care to dwell on it other than the fact it felt _insanely_ good on his throbbing cock. Even if Tsurugi was still adjusting, Mikuni gave a few insistent rolls of his hips, urging Tsurugi to relax around him and let him move already.

Once Tsurugi had calmed down enough to where his muscles finally gave way to their intruder, Mikuni pulled back half-way and rammed in again with nearly all of his might, pushing Tsurugi in against the counter of the sink. Tsurugi doubled over again with another muffled scream, to which Mikuni pulled tight on his scarf forcing Tsurugi’s head up.

“ _Watch yourself_ ,” he demanded again, and Tsurugi’s eyes opened through the haze of his tears.

In what remained of his blurry world, Tsurugi could see Mikuni overtaking him with his own imperfect body beneath. He could make out the defining lines of Mikuni’s hand around his dripping cock. A few blinks in an attempt to clear his vision while Mikuni thrusted into him again, Tsurugi watched his body sway forward to the mirror under his partner’s thrusts. He could see the flush building on Mikuni’s skin—his own sinfully red. Tsurugi looked his part… the obedient slut paying homage to their maker while Mikuni fucked into him with a growing reckless abandon. Mouth full with a makeshift gag, Tsurugi’s body battered and flushed with pleasure while the man above him began to build up a rhythm in his hips that sent Tsurugi’s mind reeling.

With anyone else, Tsurugi wouldn’t have been nearly as vulgar, but something about Mikuni made this unique. Seeing Mikuni thrusting into him with those strong gyrating hips, and the sound of his labored breath and grunting hitting against his ear, made Tsurugi smile to himself. He was the one driving Mikuni mad with this desire, only he was able to undo a man so perfectly uptight in a matter of seconds between them. In an act to please his new master, Tsurugi clenched his ass tight the next time Mikuni thrusted inward. He could hear and feel the Alicein double over him with a sharp gasp as his vision momentarily went white.

“Little shit…!” Mikuni hissed under his breath before a loud smack echoed into the closed room.

Tsurugi felt his right ass cheek stinging with what would undoubtedly be a beautiful red mark. He cried out in wanton into the cloth now moist with his hot breath. Tsurugi could feel his knees buckle under the pleasure of Mikuni’s hand, his cock sputtering a few more drops of precum onto the floor while he fought desperately to hold on.

After that little stunt from Tsurugi, Mikuni really began to pick up the pace. He wasn’t about to waste time with building rhythms and whispering sweet nothings into Tsurugi’s ear anymore. If Tsurugi wanted it dirty and hard that’s exactly what he would be getting. Mikuni bucked into his old partner with powerful thrusts of his hips. His hand kept steady on Tsurugi’s head, forcing the other to watch himself be fucked in the mirror. This would certainly change the way Tsurugi looked at himself, but whether it was for the better or not at this moment Mikuni couldn’t say. His original goal in this exercise had been abandoned for the sake of reckless pleasure.

The pad of his thumb abused Tsurugi’s shaft, pushing down and swirling itself over the head of his sensitive arousal causing an almost continuous leak of pre-cum to drip out of him now. Tsurugi likewise, was not standing idly as some doll to just be fucked and began bucking his hips back against Mikuni when he would thrust in. Their bodies collided with an almost bruising force; Tsurugi’s hand gripping the sink for dear life as they both slammed against each other with a reckless abandon. Mikuni even went as far as to bring his hips lower, his legs bending forward enough to almost mimic Tsurugi sitting on him. This brought on a new world of sensations as Tsurugi screamed out in ecstasy, feeling Mikuni pounding right up against his prostate at the new angle.

Harder, and faster they collided, Tsurugi’s body beginning to burn inside out with the rising pressure to release. Mikuni as well was also beginning to spiral to his end. He gasped and grunted with each push into Tsurugi. The hand that had been holding Tsurugi’s pulling the other’s makeshift felt like it may almost tear the fabric apart with how hard they were both tugging. Mikuni’s need to grab onto some form of purchase was driving him mad, but he couldn’t risk injuring Tsurugi anymore than they already were. Yet at the same time, he wanted to ensure Tsurugi would see himself as Mikuni saw him. In a lusted haze, the Alicein brought his hand up and buried it into the raven locks of Tsurugi’s hair, pulling his head back up with it. Tsurugi rebelled back with a guttural growl into the scarf. His cock twitching with a threat to come knocking right against Mikuni’s thumb. He could feel Tsurugi’s inner muscles bear down on him then; amber eyes snapping wide as his own threatened to spill out.

With the last coherent thought in his head, Mikuni cried out ‘Watch!’ at Tsurugi for the other to observe himself just as Mikuni came into him.

Bleary golden eyes opened under Mikuni’s command, seeing the Alicein behind himself up and over Tsurugi, practically knocking the poor thing into the mirror with how hard he came. He bared down his all as he came inside of Tsurugi, eyes squeezed tightly shut as his world washed over in a burning white. The hands that had been on Tsurugi’s hair and pleasuring his cock, dropped to the man’s waist, squeezing him tight against Mikuni’s own burning flesh. It was enough to nearly pull Tsurugi off the floor, leaving nearly his only support as his one good hand and the warmth of Mikuni’s hips currently shoved flush against him. His spilling cock pounded his seed against Tsurugi’s sweet spot, painting his inner muscular walls with white. Tsurugi watched the flush erupt on Mikuni’s cheeks and his teeth grit tightly as he released.

The former ace keened his body upwards and back against Mikuni who then bit into his good shoulder with enough strength to make it just break skin. Tsurugi came hard, blowing his own load out onto the floor and even some of the wall under the sink. Half lidded golden eyes fell back on the mirror in a subconscious reflex seeing, just in their fading vision, something he had not expected to see on the Alicein’s face… even in a moment like this.

A _smile_ …

Tsurugi… had never seen a genuine smile on Mikuni’s face before—not when he was around at least. His own eyes widened in surprise and he felt the cloth drop from his mouth with a desire to call out his former partner’s name. Tsurugi would’ve done so gladly were he not completely wiped of his senses as he climaxed.

Mikuni… was actually _smiling_ as he came. For what felt like the first time in decades, Tsurugi was able to actually bring pleasure into someone’s life… and not just sexual pleasure. Even in all the heat of his burning body as the wash of ecstasy overtook him, Tsurugi felt a different warmth burrow into his chest. Mikuni had smiled… _a real smile_ … because of him.

Moments later, the pair both collapsed over the sink, breathing heavily as their senses fell away. Mikuni dropped a hand from Tsurugi’s midsection to grip the other side of the sink.

For what seemed like hours, they stood together breathing, trying to come down from their sexual highs while the water continued to run. Mikuni was the first to come back between the two of them, sliding himself out of Tsurugi’s now weeping hole. Tsurugi moaned painfully beneath him, his ass feeling well and truly destroyed for the moment. But Mikuni wasn’t done with him yet…

A second later, Tsurugi felt something dry and rough being shoved up inside of him and looked back around to Mikuni with a pained gasp.

“W-What…?” He couldn’t formulate the rest of the words right now, still waiting for his brain to come back online fully.

“This…” Mikuni pointed down to his cock, slicked with his own semen while he pushed a rolled up wad of paper towel into Tsurugi’s ass. He left out a fair amount the object to remove easily later, “Is staying inside you until we get home.”

Tsurugi could feel his body surge with arousal again and hissed in a painful pleasure from his overly sensitive cock. Mikuni didn’t seem to care much and continued, kissing Tsurugi’s hip once as he rose to speak into his ex-partner’s ear.

“And then I’m going to fill you up again until your ass blows out.”

Mikuni gave one last smack to Tsurugi’s other cheek, hearing his prize whimper under him before he slipped his hands back to help Tsurugi stand properly. Well… properly as he could with an uncomfortable plug shoved inside him and a freshly fucked body.

“Let’s get you dressed for real now and get you back home to my place.”

 

* * *

 

“And that should do it~!” Tinker kicked herself back in her chair proudly, looking at the modified footage for the surveillance room.

Yumikage moved forward to look over the monitors as well. As if _that_ could somehow tell him everything... Junichirou adjusted his glasses once before smiling down at Tinker and giving a solid pat to her shoulder.

“Good work Tinker, as always, you’ve outdone yourself.”

“Heh heh~ Well I’m not C3’s technical ace for show you know!” Tinker beamed up proudly at Junichirou while Yumikage continued looking over the cameras.

Yumikage would never offer a compliment aloud—at least not in the traditional sense. Most of the man’s affection came in offensive remarks like ‘ _Glad you’re back bastard!!_ ’ or ‘ _Moron! Take better care of yourself!_ ’. Oddly enough his threats tended to be more endearing; often threatening to hug someone or knit them an embarrassing scarf with hearts and flowers on it. Junichirou was pretty certain Tsurugi had at least one scarf hidden in his closet somewhere.

With Tinker’s work finished, Shuuhei pushed himself up from the wall he’d been leaning against. He was eager to get back to their usual work—especially given the added burden of Tsurugi no longer being around. Even with Yumikage and Junichirou’s explanation, Shuuhei couldn’t say he was all too fond of the idea still. Then again, Yumikage and Junichirou didn’t seem to be on cloud nine with it either. Whatever those reasons were, Shuuhei had assumed they were more personal and didn’t bother delving into it. What mattered now was adjusting the schedules accordingly to be prepared for anything that could go awry. Yumikage would now be taking on the task of guarding the Sloth Pair. It was going to be a pain in the ass having to be here stupidly early every morning, but the member of the combat team figured once this was all over he’d get Tsurugi back for it. Mikuni would be lucky not to receive a horribly knit sweater Yumikage would then stuff him into, and that was if the Alicein traitor didn’t end up fucking them all over again. If he did… well… it was best not to imagine the results.

Tinker had offered herself for keeping an eye on the Greed Pair since she already enjoyed toying around with them. The pair were pretty much confined to their room anyways so they weren’t nearly as much a threat as the Sloth Pair. Shuuhei took over for the Lust Pair, and Junichirou for Pride. Of course, Junichirou and Yumikage would be on call for the other pairs Tinker and Shuuhei would monitor seeing as they _were_ the combat team. The risks were quite low however. The main problem therein lay the Sloth Pair, and Mahiru’s recent coming around to their cause. Whatever brought that on no one had really questioned, but no one fully trusted it either. Thankfully, Mahiru was a bit too naive to really cause considerable damage, and in Junichirou’s opinion he may actually be helpful in other ways. Yumikage just didn’t want a Mikuni 2.0 coming about, but any chance of that lay in his miniscule little brother who was pretty much down for the count in power.

“If all of this is settled then,” Shuuhei spoke up, “Do you mind if we actually get back to work? I suspect the Vice Branch Manager will be arriving shortly and it will look quite suspicious if we’re all here.”

“Especially without Kamiya-kun,” Tinker pointed out.

Yumikage merely snorted, “Please… that moron’s never where he should be. If anything, him _being_ here would be abnormal.”

“Thanks again for your help you guys,” Junichirou concluded with a slight head bow, moving to exit the room for the time being, “If any of the pairs gives you trouble let us know and we’ll take care of it.”

“Ah—Kurumamori-san?” Tinker spoke up just before he and Yumikage left. Both 26-year-olds paused at the door looking back at her, “Um… Let us know… how Kamiya-kun is doing if you hear from him, ok?”

Junichirou gave a soft smile and a nod while Yumikage merely clicked his tongue in annoyance and headed out. The door shut soundly behind the two as they headed off to their respective charges.

“Look… I know you don’t like Mikuni, but this is probably the best thing that’s happened for Tsurugi. How else would we have gotten him out?” Junichirou spoke softly.

“Che… Don’t you think I’m aware of that, bastard?!” Yumikage grumbled in annoyance.

If he were honest, what really set Yumikage off was that it had to be Mikuni of all people that in the end helped Tsurugi out. Yumikage would’ve taken almost anyone else. Yet… there was a part of him that felt inwardly frustrated with himself for not being strong enough to help his own friend. He didn’t like admitting he was weak or that he was useless, but in a way… he felt that.

“Just… why _him_ … of all people, huh?”

“That’s not really our call to make…” Junichirou exhaled in reply, “What matters in the end is that he gets out and stays out of here. That’s what we all want for him and what he needs. Even if it’s not us that ends up being that helping hand in the end, what matters is that he is helped.”

“Can we even trust that Alicein bastard to help him though? You know his personality is warped. You _know_ how they were back then,” Yumikage looked over to Junichirou as they neared the elevator. From here they’d be going their separate ways.

“What we know is only what they showed us and said to us. It’s possible… that perhaps everything that happened back then wasn’t all one-sided.”

“And what if it was?”

“…” Junichirou fell silent.

Both he and Yumikage had dealt with Tsurugi firsthand after Mikuni had left. Tsurugi had acted as if everything were fine, but being so close they could tell it was as if a part of the man had simply… _died_. His normally hallowed laughter felt even more fragile, and his smile looked to be carved out of him with a knife purely in an effort to make the shape of one. Tsurugi would drink and drink and drink himself into oblivion when they’d go out, sometimes to the point he’d be sobbing hysterically until it visibly hurt Yumikage to see him in such a state. Yumikage was never one to show visible sympathy… and it bothered even _him_. Junichirou felt his heart ache in memory, now having felt a similar loss with his wife’s untimely death. The heartbreak of losing someone you so dearly loved… it was one of the worst pains you could ever feel. If Tsurugi were to experience that once again, Junichirou didn’t know if his friend would recover.

He looked back to Yumikage with a concerned gaze then, surprised to see Yumikage held a somewhat similar expression. The only difference being Yumikage’s concern was muddled by heavy set brows, furrowed in subtle anger.

“I won’t let him get away with a second time Jun,” Yumikage had barely let Mikuni get away with it the first time.

“I know… but I think that would hurt Tsurugi more. I think right now the best plan is to remain hopeful and try and buy them as much time as possible so… if it is one-sided… Tsurugi can gain enough sense of self to not return here.”

“Do you think he will though?” Yumikage sighed, “That bastard isn’t that far from Touma in his methods. Tsurugi’s already conditioned for that shit… it won’t take much.”

“I don’t think Mikuni would treat Tsurugi in the same way Touma did… Some quality of life has to be better than none at all… right?”

Yumikage exhaled with a grunt, digging his heal into the ground as he looked away, “…I need a smoke.”

“Let’s meet up on break then and have one,” Junichirou suggested, which earned a small chortle from Yumikage.

“You don’t smoke you moron.”

“Hey, I was trying to be helpful!”

“Yah yah, hurry up and get to your brats so I can get to mine you fatty.”

“I AM NOT FAT.”

 

* * *

 

**Omake:**

Tinker: “So… did they ever… y’know~?”

Yumikage: “More times than you can count.”

Shuuhei: “…Tinker can count to pretty high numbers, so that’s rather impressive… if not repulsive.”

Junichirou: “OK! MOVING ON…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> { Things NOT to do in a hospital...? Probably this. }


End file.
